So I am the god of basketball?

Chapter 78 Hee, I lied to you

Meng Lang's self-adjustment continued.

It makes him look more like Chris Mullin.

Not only does he think so, but some media also think so.

Meng Lang accepted the comments from these media and the "Chris Mullin" label attached to him.

This is the best template he can achieve now.

If it's really like him, why not?
  This is the "best team" in the 91-92 season and a member of the "Dream Team".

"It seems I have to arrange some tactics specifically for your passing?"

Chuck Daly saw Meng Lang's transformation on the court, and he excitedly wanted to do something:
  Chris Mullin has a passing ability that few pitchers see.

But soon, he gave up:
  "Man, I'm sorry about your vision! Just focus on shooting, that's what you're really good at!"

Meng Lang has always discovered the charm of Chuck Daly, and this time he discovered a new charm in this legendary head coach:

He doesn’t dwell on things he can’t do!

Whether it's for him or the players.

This is actually very difficult.

There are many "old diehards" among the head coaches in this league. They are obsessed with changing their players and letting them change in the direction they want to see. If they succeed, they will say smugly:
  Look, I'll tell you!
  Then he takes all the credit for it, as if this player is so good because of him.

If the player fails to do what is asked of him, then they will curse and say:
  Get out of here, you piece of trash, the NBA is no place for people like you.

Larry Brown is one of the best.

If he were in the hands of this old man, I'm afraid his life would definitely be very uncomfortable. Maybe one day I will have to go to the hospital with a fruit basket and beg him not to die.

During his self-adjustment period, the Magic showed the common problems of a young team:

The state is prone to ups and downs.

After winning five consecutive games with great momentum, they immediately suffered a "three-game losing streak".

On November 11, they lost to the Eagles 16-90.

This is the last game of the Magic's "three-game losing streak."

In this game, Meng Lang had the worst performance of his career so far:
  15 of 3 shots!
  For the first time in his career, he failed to score in double figures in a single game.

He could score at least 11 points before.

After the game, many media experts jumped out to criticize his shooting. Bill Simmons directly mocked Meng Lang: "He always wants to make some shots that look very difficult to prove his shooting skills!"

It's been a while since he farted.

He didn't know how long he had been waiting for this day.

But Meng Lang was not affected by these voices. On November 11, the Magic team returned to Orlando for its long-lost home game.

The team opened the locker room before the game, and a reporter asked him: "In tonight's game, will you take the same shot as in the last game?"

Meng Lang did not hesitate: "Of course, the team spent so much money just to let me shoot!"

"What if you haven't adjusted to your state tonight? If you shot 9-for-0 tonight, will you continue to do this?"

Meng Lang finally had the opportunity to say that famous saying: "I would rather make 30 for 0 shots than 9 for 0!"

His words shocked the reporter who interviewed him. He bet that everyone underestimated the determination of Meng Lang's projection.

After finishing the interview with Meng Lang, he wrote this sentence in his notebook:

He just sat there, as firm as a rock. I don't think anything can stop him from shooting, nothing!

"He's going to come back in this game, if not this game, then the next game, and that's what a rookie is, isn't it? It's like you never know what color the next piece of candy is going to be!" Chuck - Daly prefers that Meng Lang will get better in this game. After all, after playing so many games, Meng Lang has rarely been unstable in a row. "And he has the motivation to win this game!"

Chuck Daly didn't say what the motivation was.

Because that could easily arouse strong dissatisfaction from an old guy.

There aren't many "old guys," as Daley calls them, in this league.

Larry Brown is one of them.

Chuck Daly was chatting with Meng Lang before. ——This is his way of getting along with the players, but there is another reason for chatting with Meng Lang. Meng Lang is an interesting person, and chatting with him is also an interesting thing. ——He asked Meng Lang to rank so many head coaches in the league.

Meng Lang ranked Larry Brown at No. 27 and left a sentence that impressed him deeply:
  If anyone brought a dog, Larry Brown would be ranked 28th!
  He didn't know why Meng Lang looked down upon Larry Brown so much. This veteran head coach is still capable on the defensive end. He didn't ask, because it didn't matter. There was no need for a special reason to hate someone. Sometimes when you first see someone, you will think that this person is so annoying.

But he knew that this would give Meng Lang extra motivation.

Tonight the Magic are at home, facing the Indiana Pacers led by Larry Brown!

Although they have experienced a "three-game losing streak", the atmosphere within the Magic team is still OK. "Shark" is still in the mood to show off, and Hardaway is still in the mood to see how his idol is doing in the major leagues.

On the contrary, they were a little worried about Meng Lang.

Because their performance during the "three-game losing streak" was pretty good, Meng Lang also played well in the first two games, but there was a huge slump in the third game.

"Don't worry, I will try to pass the ball to you as much as possible from the beginning of this game. Don't hesitate. As long as you think it is an opportunity, just take action as resolutely as before. Shaq and I both believe in you!"

Hardaway said he was angry with O'Neal.

Meng Lang was very touched, really touched: "I hope the friendship between the three of us will never change!"

"Of course, dream!" Hardaway couldn't think of a reason for the conflict between him and Meng Lang. They were so compatible.

It was only when Hardaway heard Meng Lang's words, "I would rather make 30 for 0 shots than 9 for 0 shots" that he realized that his worries were unnecessary.

What kind of "big heart" does this guy have? Why should he worry about someone like Michael Jordan who is trash-talking?
  Before the game started, Chuck Daly gave a final tactical explanation.

Such actions were rare in the past.

Obviously he still values ​​this game very much.

He is also using this method to remind everyone on the Magic team that they usually play for fun, but the current situation is:
  We can't lose anymore!
  The Pacers currently have 4 wins and 4 losses, just behind the Magic, who have 5 wins and 3 losses.

This is Larry Brown's first season coaching the Pacers. After playing 8 games, we can clearly see the changes he has brought to the Pacers. They averaged 106.5 points per game last season and have lost 97.5 points per game this season. The average loss was only [-] points.

It dropped by as much as 9 points!
  At the same time, their scoring average has also changed from 107.5 points per game last season to 101 points currently.

It also dropped by 6.5 points...

This is a typical "Larry Brown team", trading defense for offense.

It doesn't matter how your own offense is, what's important is that your opponent doesn't score!
  The Pacers' lineup is also filled with a strong "Larry Brown style." Starting power forward Dale Davis, a hard-working blue-collar player, has only two things on his mind from the beginning of the game: protecting the frame and making up for defense; starting No. [-] Haywood Workman mainly plays against one Absolute obedience to the head coach's orders. There is a little trivia about him. After retiring, he became an NBA referee. He was the referee who whistled the last game of Kobe Bryant’s career;
  Obedience and diligence are two of Larry Brown's favorite qualities.

There are two core players for this Pacers team:

Rick Schmitz, No. [-], is a European insider. He is a "jack of all trades" player with accurate shooting and solid basketball skills such as positioning, post-up, hook and passing support. Later, when Yao Ming joined the NBA, the draft template was the younger version of him.

There is another one, the tall and thin black player Reggie Miller standing opposite Meng Lang.

He once became the NBA's "three-point king" in the future.

In addition, the earliest "one man, one city" and "one man against one city" actually refer to him.

The perseverance of "Indiana, Never Compromise" also started with him.

It can be said that even if the Pacers produce a player who can win the regular season MVP or lead the team to win a championship in the future, the Pacers' "first player in team history" will still be Reggie Miller.

His fighting spirit in the NBA is the epitome of Indiana's entire past, present, and future struggle.

This is a player whose historical status is greater than his honorary status.

It's just that Meng Lang doesn't like Reggie Miller. Even if his ability to run without the ball is loaded with this guy's ability card.

He didn't deny that the guy was a fighter.

But this is not the reason why he deliberately raised his foot to kick the defender in front of him when shooting a three-pointer.

No, in the first round tonight, Reggie Miller used this trick to "teach" Meng Lang a lesson.

Without getting rid of Meng Lang, he caught the ball and jumped up. When Meng Lang got close to the interference, he suddenly raised his foot and almost tripped Meng Lang who landed on the ground.

And he fell directly to the ground, and the referee also blew the whistle at this time.

Three free throw opportunities were obtained.

Lying on the ground, he made a weird celebration, and then shouted to Meng Lang: "Rookie, welcome to the NBA!"

It drew boos from the audience.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Meng Lang just wanted to ask, who said there was no "porcelain whistle" in the 90s?

This may be the reason why the "Reggie Miller" rule was not introduced until 2012, but it is still named after Reggie Miller, who retired for six or seven years.

"You're such a rookie now, man!"

Chuck Daly is happy to see Meng Lang falter in this area, which is really rare.

Meng Lang rolled his eyes at him. He needed to update his ranking of the league's head coaches.

He actually ranked Chuck Daly in the top three.

This doesn't look like the top three!

All three free throws were made, which was an extremely easy thing for Reggie Miller, who averaged 90% of his free throws per game. For another person standing on the court, it is indeed an extremely difficult thing.

Speaking of this, Meng Lang wanted to complain again. Can you imagine that such a player whose main skill is shooting averages 5.1 free throws per game in his career?

For comparison, Meng Lang's junior, Ray Allen, averaged only 3.1 free throws per game in his career!
  In terms of ball-handling ability, Ray Allen is much better than Reggie Miller, right?

It shows how skillfully he uses this "scissor kick"?

It's hard for Meng Lang to have full admiration for such a "fighter". Even though he has polio and even though he is thin, he can perform far better in the playoffs than in the regular season.

but……

This is no reason for him to do such disgusting tricks.

Meng Lang actively moved around, looking for opportunities to catch the ball.

Reggie Miller, who succeeded in "Porcelain", kept saying in his ear: "Rookie, you seem to be in a hurry, do you want to repay me like this? That's right, you bitch must be like this." , I know you definitely want to do this, so let’s try it and see if you can..."

This is the second characteristic of Reggie Miller, the endless "trash talk", and the crazy "face", which is the most vivid look of a villain who succeeds.

Using "scissors" to touch porcelain is already despicable enough, but he is not ashamed of it, but proud of it.

The trash talk stopped abruptly because Meng Lang caught the ball.

When he was about to pounce forward, Meng Lang's feet moved forward significantly. Thinking about what he had just done, Reggie Miller hesitated for a moment. It was during this hesitation that Meng Lang took a step to the right with the ball, raised his hand and shot, and the two-pointer from mid-to-long distance was directly hit.

Seeing Reggie Miller's expression of "I'm afraid of ghosts knocking on the door after I've done something wrong", he said: "I'm not a player of your level, Reggie, don't think that I'm as bad as you." Abuse!"

"Shut up, rookie, I got three points!"

Reggie Miller hurriedly opened his mouth to fight back.

In his mind, as long as he does not fight back as soon as he hears "trash talk", it means that he is cowardly. He must not be cowardly, so whether he can respond or not, he will not hesitate to use it directly. “Trash talk” response.

It's the typical "the body is soft, but the mouth is still hard".

Otherwise, Jordan wouldn't be so angry that he would take action directly.

Because this is not a laizi who can be defeated by basketball.

But facing Meng Lang, a rookie, Reggie Miller obviously wanted to regain his place.

Meng Lang followed him well.

Although Remy Miller is thin, he is 2 meters tall. With this height, it is not so easy to get rid of Meng Lang, who is also a top off-the-ball player.

Seeing that Meng Lang was always close to him, in desperation, his hands habitually made unclean movements.

only……

As soon as he exerted his strength, Meng Lang staggered sideways as if he had been punched, completely exposing his pushing hands.

"beep!"

The referee blew the whistle without hesitation.

Offensive foul on Pacers No. 31.

Reggie Miller looked at Meng Lang again. A sly smile flashed on the guy's face:
  "Hee, I lied to you!"

　Today is another 1 words. Tomorrow I will continue to pay off the 6-word chapter I owe.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)