NBA: Goat is actually me

Chapter 87 Are you two crazy?
"Hey! Meng, long time no see, do you still remember me?"

Three hours before the game started, Meng Jin was stopped in the player tunnel of Madison Square Garden by a man in a suit, red tie, and with a white elite appearance.

Meng Jin stared at him for three seconds and couldn't figure out who he was. However, judging from his attire and the fact that he appeared in the player tunnel at this time, he should not be a passerby.

Although he didn't understand the situation, Meng Jin still greeted him enthusiastically: "Hey! Wow! Long time no see!"

After saying that, Meng Jin gave him a hug.

"The last time we met was in the March Madness semi-finals, where my team lost to Syracuse University. Time has passed so quickly, and your progress during this time has been incredible. Back then, you were a player sitting at the very end of the bench, and now you play like an All-Star. I'm almost becoming your fan," the white man laughed.

After hearing this, Meng Jin remembered that this was Rick Pitino. Nine months ago, it was he who led the unknown Providence College to the NCAA semi-finals and became famous.

He is now the head coach of the New York Knicks.

Meng Jin was very surprised that he still remembered him. In fact, Rick Pitino had no impression of Meng Jin at that time. Rick Pitino only knew him after Meng Jin became famous in the NBA. He was just being polite just now.

"Coach Rick, I'm sorry."

Rick Pitino was stunned. He didn't know why Meng Jin suddenly apologized to him.

Then, Meng Jin said, "I'm going to make you relive your nightmare tonight."

After saying this, Meng Jin turned around and left, leaving Rurik Pitino alone and in a mess.

No, the game hasn't started yet. Is this trash talk?

And he was specifically criticizing the coach!
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the world of basketball!"

"Let me introduce the starting lineups for both teams. Chicago Bulls starting point guard Sam Vincent, starting shooting guard Michael Jordan, starting small forward Meng Jin, starting power forward Charles Oakley, and starting center Dave Korsin."

In recent games, Collins has made some minor adjustments to the lineup, with Gilmore and Paxson being placed on the bench.

Gilmore's attributes in all aspects are obviously not up to par with the team, and Paxson's problem is simply due to passing the ball. Now the team's style of play is run and gun, and everyone must serve the breakthroughs of Jordan and Meng Jin. Even though Paxson's shooting percentage is 5 points higher than Sam Vincent, Collins still resolutely removed him from the starting lineup.

"Here it comes! Here it comes! Here comes the highlight, the New York Knicks' starting lineup! Mark Jackson! Gerald Wilkins! John Newman! Pat Cummings! Patrick Ewing!"

Before the game started, New York Knicks live commentator Mark Albert tried his best to stir up the atmosphere.

His commentary career began in 1967, and this year marks his 20th year.

The referee on duty for today's game is Boye, the same referee who beat up the Pistons trio when Meng Jin beat them.

Before the game started, he carefully found Meng Jin and said, "Meng, we have to control our movements tonight."

Boye now feels traumatized when he sees Meng Jin.

Meng Jin patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, referee, I won't make things difficult for you today."

Boye nodded and patted Meng Jin on the back. With his words, he felt at ease at all!

Before the game, this group of players were all well-mannered, especially Meng Jin, who wore a pair of glasses, a suit and sometimes a beret. Those who didn't know him might have thought he was a scholar. What was the result?
Boye learned from the last lesson. If there is any sign of something wrong this time, he would rather send Meng Jin off than let the tragedy happen again.

As Boye threw the ball high, the game officially began.

Ewing won the jump ball and the Knicks attacked first.

Mark Jackson holds the ball and Ewing comes up for a pick-and-roll.

The Bulls adopted a double-team tactic, with point guard Sam Vincent chasing Mark Jackson and center Dav Korsin blocking him.

In the first round of the game, they were double-teamed like this. Most point guards would not be able to adapt to it, but Mark Jackson had a very clear mind. He analyzed the situation on the court after one dribble, jumped quickly on one leg, and passed the ball to Ewing who was in an open position.

Mark Jackson is the No. 18 rookie this year. His performance has exceeded everyone's expectations. He currently averages 13.5 points per game, which is already a leader among rookies. What's even more outrageous is his 10.8 assists per game. What's even more outrageous is his playing time of nearly 40 minutes. So far, only Jordan has a higher average playing time in the league than him.

The moment Ewing caught the ball, Oakley came over.

Pat Cummings was left open in the mid-range shot in the left corner, but Ewing didn't care. He just wanted to shoot when he got the ball. His attack against Oakley was like a mismatch.

Ewing headed the ball with his back, then turned confidently, leaned forward, and made a jump shot from the edge of the penalty area!

Meng Jin came over from the other side and rushed forward to block Ewing, but unfortunately Oakley was one step faster than him and blocked the ball from the side.

The block was not strong enough and the ball flew into Cummings' hands.

After getting the ball, Cummings bent his knees to accumulate strength, then jumped up to prepare to hit the rebound.

Meng Jin said that he originally came for Ewing, but he would rather not refuse a hat trick if someone offered him one.

With a whoosh, Meng Jin bounced up on the spot.

Meng Jin shot faster and jumped higher than Cummings. In the air, Cummings felt that he was covered by something, but it was too late to regret.

Pat Cummings leaned back, intending to make a pull-up shot after an aerial confrontation.

This was his last struggle, and Meng Jin shot the ball down with both hands.

The basketball hit Cummings and bounced into the paint.

The ball was knocked out of bounds during the melee.

The referee pointed with his little hand, indicating that the ball was in the backcourt and the Bulls had possession of the ball.

The home fans at Madison Square Garden first sighed, then booed.

This is a traditional skill of New York fans.

The ball possession changed, and the Bulls took advantage of the first round of offense.

The camera turns around and gives a close-up of New York Knicks head coach Rick Pitino.

Rick Pitino yelled a few times on the sidelines. It was unclear what he was saying in the broadcast camera, but the audience would soon know.

The Knicks double-teamed the Bulls players in the backcourt!
The player who double-teamed him was not Jordan or Meng Jin, but point guard Sam Vincent.

This double-team was so confusing that the audience wondered if this rookie NBA coach was crazy to defend the Bulls in this way.

First of all, the core of the Bulls is Jordan and Meng Jin. Secondly, they are a run-and-gun team. If you leave two players in the backcourt, aren't you waiting for them to break through? However, this outrageous tactic has achieved unexpected results.

Sam Vincent made a mistake in the double-team and passed the ball directly to the Knicks player.

Gerard Wilkins intercepted the ball with quick eyes and hands!

Gerald Wilkins is the younger brother of the famous "Human Highlight Film" Dominique Wilkins, but he does not have the offensive talent of his brother. He mainly focuses on defense.

Maybe his defense was developed from playing basketball with his brother every day.

After stealing the ball, Gerald Wilkins took one dribble and passed it to his teammate, then cut to the basket, received a pass from his teammate and made a layup to score two points.

0:2.

New York Knicks coach Rick Pitino kept applauding on the sidelines. This tactic was carefully designed by him. It seemed to be aimed at restricting the Bulls point guard, but in fact it was aimed at Meng Jin and Jordan.

As we all know, the Bulls don't have a reliable point guard. Although Sam Vincent's passing ability is slightly better than Paxson, he is just a tall guy among short guys.

The Bulls served the ball from the baseline, and under high pressure, Jordan retreated to receive the ball.

Commentator Albert said: "Rick Pitino played an unexpected pressing tactic at the beginning, which is not common. The Bulls did not seem to be prepared. They faced a lot of pressure, but this tactic would be a test for the physical fitness of the Knicks players."

Jordan played as a point guard and dribbled across half court.

Jordan passed the ball to Oakley in the paint.

Oakley held the ball with his back to the basket and observed it for a while before passing it back to Jordan.

Gerald Wilkins stood in front of Jordan.

It looked like he was defending alone, but in fact his teammates on both wings were helping him, and his teammates around him were constantly moving back and forth towards Jordan.

Before the 01-02 season, NBA rules clearly stipulated that zone defense was illegal, so if the head coach of this era wanted to play zone defense, he could only play this kind of "system defense suspected of being a zone defense."

Due to the restrictions of the illegal defense rules, the team cannot blatantly assist or double-team, which will result in players running constantly. After all, the referee's whistle is generally based on how long and how far you are away from your defensive player. This is a way of exploiting loopholes in the rules.

It has to be said that Rick Pitino is really good at researching and deploying tactics, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to lead a bottom-ranked team to the NCAA semi-finals. However, this coach is too bookish, and the NBA is not college basketball. This is not a stage where success can be achieved simply by relying on superb tactical qualities.

As soon as Jordan scored the ball, he was double-teamed.

At the top of the arc, Jordan passed the ball to Meng Jin.

The moment Meng Jin received the pass, he immediately entered combat mode!
Ball!

accelerate!
Get started!

While flying in the air, Meng Jin kept his eyes fixed on Ewing.

"Bang!"

The basketball hit the rim and flew up to the third-tier stands.

The ball was still on the way up when the referee blew the whistle.

Ewing committed a pushing foul.

Ewing did not argue, he accepted the ball. Meng Jin's impact was too strong, and if he pushed him with his elbow, he would probably be knocked out.

Seeing this scene, Jordan was shocked. Less than a minute after the start of the game, you want to go in and attack his face with a flying dragon. This guy is willing to do anything for the sake of the gamble!

But Jordan said he was the same.

After Meng Jin made one of two free throws, the Knicks grabbed the rebound and counterattacked.

The Knicks' lineup is not suitable for counterattacks. Mark Jackson is too slow, almost as slow as Master Roshi.

Mark Jackson said he could make up for his speed with wisdom. He took three slow steps to the basket and passed the ball to Cummings.

Oakley has jumped to block Mark Jackson, and the Bulls are now in no-man's land in the interior.

Just as Cummings was thinking about the ball, a dark figure rushed in front of him.

"Snapped!"

Jordan acted quickly, accurately and ruthlessly, and intercepted the ball.

After getting the ball, Jordan advanced quickly.

Ewing, who had just run outside the three-point line, immediately made a turnaround run.

Jordan's eyes lit up when he saw him speed up.

I'm not afraid of Ewing's defense, I'm afraid of him not defending!

Near the free throw line, Jordan received the ball and started!

In the paint area, two people jumped at the same time!
Jordan wanted to dunk on Ewing so much that he took off forcefully. The plane collided with Ewing in the air, causing it to crash.

"Beep!"

The referee, Boye, blew the whistle, and he was particularly strict tonight.

Ewing received two fouls right at the start and was temporarily substituted off the court for rest.

The water dispenser manager handed the towel to Ewing, who angrily threw the towel on the ground. “Why do I need a towel when I’m not even sweating?”
Ewing was so angry that he thought the two Bulls players were simply mentally ill. They rushed towards his face like crazy just when the game started. What did that mean?

Do you think you have no temper?

While Ewing was accumulating anger on the bench, head coach Rick Pitino fell into deep thought, thinking back to Meng Jin and Jordan's resolute rush towards Ewing. He was very sure that this was the Bulls' foul-making tactic! The purpose was to knock down the team's core inside player!

Rick Pitino looked at the expressionless Bulls coach Collins and sighed in his heart that the devil is always one step ahead of the righteous!

(End of this chapter)