The longest river

Chapter 100 Pippen's Sorrow

Vaccaro had certainly told Yang that he would communicate with the management, but Yang did not expect that Brown would actually agree.

And you could tell they were extremely unwilling.

This sends a very positive signal, indicating that he carries significant weight with the management.

That evening, Game 3 between the Pacers and the Bulls kicked off at City Plaza Gardens.

The stadium was packed, and the enthusiasm of the Indiana fans was evident on their faces.

Despite trailing 0-2 in the series, the city's basketball atmosphere, coupled with what they did in the first round, still gives them confidence that the team has a chance to win.

Especially during the opening ceremony, the DJ's drawn-out rendition of the first name gave them a real sense of surprise.

"6'7", from Cleveland High School, number 16, Hansen Young!"

When Yang Shuai stood up, the cheers that erupted from the crowd were like a tidal wave, as if they were going to lift the roof off the entire stadium.

Yang Shuai is certainly not the leader of the Pacers right now. Miller and Schmitz are ahead of him, and even in Brown's team, defensive players like McGee have a higher status than him.

But the cheers at that moment showed just how popular he is in Indiana right now.

Remember that six three-pointers that led the team to a 17-point comeback in Game 1 against the Knicks? That happened right in front of Indiana fans!

Add to that his high school rookie status and genuine personality, and the fans here absolutely adore him.

"Is this kid really that popular now?"

On the other side of the court, Pippen couldn't help but turn to look at Jordan.

He never expected that the high school student he once looked down on would suddenly become so popular.

That's quite unexpected.

Jordan chuckled, chewing his gum, maintaining the same nonchalant attitude he had always had.

Although Yang Shuai's defense in the first two games surprised him somewhat, it was far from causing him any trouble.

Therefore, whether or not a player starts the game will not affect the outcome.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.

Chicago Bulls: Ron Harper, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Longley

Pacers: Robertson, Miller, Young, Dale Davis, Schmitz
The game officially started, with Schmitz winning possession for the Pacers in the jump ball, and Yang Shuai scoring the first points for his team with a weak-side three-pointer.

Halfway through the game, the score remained close, with both teams trading baskets.

Yang Shuai's starting position was very effective, just like when Scott replaced Robertson in the starting lineup against the Knicks. "Space" is not valued as much in this era, but that's why it's so important.

However, Yang Shuai's defensive plan with Robertson did not achieve the desired effect, because as the score remained close, Jordan's offensive desire was not as strong.

If the opposing team were to switch players, Yang Shuai thought it might be because they couldn't perform under high-intensity defense, but this explanation clearly doesn't apply to Jordan.

The first quarter ended with the score tied at 25.

The fans at the stadium were in high spirits because the situation looked quite promising.

As expected, Brown was to blame for the previous loss to the Bulls. Tonight, we will defeat the Bulls!

At the start of the second quarter, Yang Shuai was resting on the bench, while Schmitz led the Pacers on the court, and Pippen led the Bulls.

It was at this moment that Yang Shuai noticed that Pippen wasn't handling the ball much on the court, and the Bulls' offensive focus was on Kukoc and Kerr.

He suddenly realized something.

When I was studying the Bulls and Heat videos before, the games of Games 2 and 3 weren't very relevant because the Heat's mentality had already collapsed after Game 1.

The reason for that was because in Game 1, they used a classic strategy against the Heat: "slow simmering followed by a high-heat reduction."

The Pacers were on the back foot from the start of the first two games, resulting in them trailing throughout the game and failing to match the intensity of the Bulls.

Tonight, they got off to a good start and finally matched up, which successfully activated the Bulls' mode.

Because of their superior strength, the Bulls can do this, and the advantage of doing so is that they can conserve energy and suddenly improve their defense in the second half to win the game.

Realizing this, Yang Shuai immediately got up and walked to Brown on the sidelines, then asked to come on early.

When Yang Shuai said those words, Brown's eyes widened as if they were about to pop out from behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

He has been forced to agree to let Yang Shuai start, and now Yang Shuai wants to continue to increase his playing time?

"Go back to your seat," Brown refused outright.

"We can't let them have it too easy on the field. I need to go up and wear down Scottie's stamina," Yang Shuai explained.

"I said, go back to your seat!" Brown was angry. Yang Shuai had only challenged his authority on the court before, but now he was challenging him directly in front of the team!

"I……"

Just as Yang Shuai was about to start criticizing, Scott quickly stood up and pulled him back.

If Yang Shuai is unable to play again due to his conflict with Brown, just like in the regular season, the Pacers will have no chance at all.

Yang Shuai sat back down on the bench, grumbling and cursing.

Not communicating with Brown as Paul suggested was definitely the best thing he did. That Brown is like a rock in a latrine, smelly and hard!

About five minutes into the second quarter, both sides began to bring back their starting players.

Pippen remained on the court.

Besides their individual abilities, the Bulls' twin stars also have a major physical limitation.

However, this did give Yang Shuai an opportunity.

"Scottie, why are you just holding the ball and not attacking?" While Pippen was organizing the offense, Yang Shuai immediately switched to attack mode.

Pippen ignored Yang Shuai and continued waving.

"Could it be that Phil isn't giving you the right to fire again?"

However, Pippen paused immediately after Yang Shuai said something, and he frowned as he looked at Yang Shuai.

Pippen isn't the type of person who gets easily provoked, but Yang Shuai's words made him feel severely physically uncomfortable.

Because of the phrase "Phil didn't give him the shot," he immediately thought of the playoffs in the season when Jordan wasn't playing and Phil Jackson didn't give him the shot for the game-winning shot against the Knicks.

Yang Shuai is good at talking.

"Scottie, the ball!" Just then, Jordan, who had already pinned Robertson behind him, called out to the stunned Pippen. Pippen lobbed the ball in, and Jordan, without waiting for help defense, turned and shot a fadeaway from the baseline, making it.

Due to his height disadvantage and the impact of his back injury on his explosiveness, Robertson struggled to defend Jordan one-on-one tonight.

"If it were me, I definitely wouldn't be happy. Why should everyone win the championship together, but only Michael gets to enjoy the spotlight?"

Pippen and Yang Shuai were directly matched up on the court, so even during the transition between offense and defense, he kept talking.

"Aren't you the same?" Pippen came to his senses and his mind was still clear.

He was Jordan's second-in-command, while Yang Shuai was Miller's mistress!
"But I won't let Miller bully me every day."

However, Yang Shuai's next words silenced Pippen.

Although Jordan did lead them to victory, his personality and his tyrannical nature on the court were unbearable for most people.

"Even if you can tolerate that kind of bullying, years later, when people talk about the Bulls, they will only talk about MJ's greatness, and you will just be a role player who doesn't even have a chance to make a game-winning shot without MJ."

"You fart!"

"Negative energy from Scottie Pippen +516".

Pippen finally lost his temper.

Just then, Yang Shuai suddenly accelerated past his defense.

Schmitz had no good opportunities to score one-on-one under the basket, but after seeing Yang Shuai, he passed the ball to him.

Yang Shuai received the ball and quickly made a layup for two points.

Although many of the things my fellow student James said seem unreliable now, some of them were still useful.

For example, Jordan did bully his teammates, and he explained to him that the arguments that Pippen was far inferior to James were true.

Pippen's face turned green; he never expected that a seasoned veteran like himself would fall for a high school student's trick.

However, to his surprise, Yang Shuai, who had already gained an advantage, not only did not stop talking, but also continued his previous remarks after retreating to the defensive end:

"Am I wrong? Without MJ, you're not even as good as me, a high school student. I just led my team to eliminate the Knicks, and you couldn't beat them."

"Negative energy from Scottie Pippen +748".

Pippen's face turned as dark as a line.

Having gone through that round, he knew that Yang Shuai was trying to provoke him to create an opportunity, but what Yang Shuai said was all the truth that hit home.

In particular, Yang Shuai, a high school student, had two chances to make the game-winning shot in the series against the Knicks!

"If you want me to shut up, prove it to me, just like that super long-range three-pointer you made that day, and shock me."

Yang Shuai is no longer going to act.

Pippen was also suddenly put on the fire by Yang Shuai.

Having experienced Yang Shuai's foul mouth firsthand in the practice match, he knew that if he couldn't beat Yang Shuai, Yang Shuai would definitely not shut up.

As the game switched between offense and defense, Pippen finally gestured for a one-on-one opportunity.

Jordan moved directly to the weak side and then signaled to his teammates to pull away.

During his time with the Bulls, Jordan was mostly bullying his teammates, but he showed more favoritism towards Pippen.

It wasn't just because they had built a dynasty together, but also because he saw Pippen as another version of himself; the two of them had a lot in common.

This favoritism was evident in the practice game where Pippen was given a chance, and also in the subtle choice made just now.

The stage was set, and Pippen began to drive to the basket.

Yang Shuai used sliding steps to stay close to the defender.

His current ability is barely enough to defend Jordan, but he's quite effective against Pippen.

Especially in terms of physique, he is not at a disadvantage at all.

Pippen quickly demonstrated why his team couldn't beat the Knicks: while his individual ball-handling and offensive abilities weren't bad, he was still some distance from being a true ball-handling core player.

When Pippen broke through to the vicinity of the three-second zone, Yang Shuai forced him to stop.

Furthermore, the rest of the Pacers team had full confidence in Yang's one-on-one defensive ability, so no one came over to help defend him, which prevented Pippen from utilizing his greatest playmaking advantage.

However, upon seeing this, Jordan pushed Robertson aside and moved towards the top of the key, gesturing for Pippen to pass the ball.

"Keep it up, you can't live without MJ."

Pippen was about to pass the ball, but Yang Shuai's words made him abandon that idea and instead, he hit Yang Shuai's shot and then made a floater off the backboard.

Pippen is clearly better at physical confrontation than Yang Shuai, but his intention to attack after a dead ball is too obvious.

Yang Shuai, in particular, was already poised to make his move.

"Snapped!"

Before Pippen could even raise the ball, Yang Shuai had already sliced ​​it out of bounds.

Although he didn't manage to steal the ball directly, Pippen's one-on-one attempt was clearly unsuccessful.

"Without MJ, you really are... nothing!"

Yang Shuai looked at Pippen and shook his head with a sigh.

"Negative energy from Scottie Pippen +886".

Pippen angrily shoved Yang Shuai.

However, Yang Shuai, who was fiercely battling Pippen just a moment ago, now seemed like a paper doll that could be blown away by the wind, falling into the pile of baseline photographers.

Moreover, after he fell to the ground, he raised his hands to indicate that he hadn't moved them.

The referee immediately gave Pippen a technical foul.

Rodman: ?

You little brat, Kakashi?
At that moment, Pippen's face showed an indescribable complex emotion upon seeing the referee's gesture.

There was regret for his impulsiveness, and anger at Yang Shuai for messing with his mentality, but at most there was an uncontrollable self-doubt.

Is he really nothing without Jordan?
(End of this chapter)