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Chapter 223 He's at least fifty times better than Jordan! (Second update!)
Before being traded to the Cavaliers, Jamison was a star forward who averaged 20+10 points per game and was selected as an All-Star reserve.

However, after only two seasons with the Cavaliers, all of Jamison's previous honors were ruthlessly stripped away by the Cleveland media and Cavaliers fans.

What kind of bullshit star striker is this?
He's just a stat padder who couldn't even capitalize on an open shot when he received a brilliant pass from His Majesty the King. If you don't understand, ask me: would the CBA even consider someone like Jamison?

At that time, facing various doubts from the outside world, Jamison, who had no choice but to bow his head under the eaves, stayed in Cleveland for two years in a daze.

To be fair, Jamison has reflected on his Cavaliers career.

And after being traded back to the Warriors, Jamison always kept a low profile, afraid of being labeled as a "CBA teammate" in the Warriors.

But as time goes by
While playing alongside Qin Yue, Jamison, who was becoming more and more confident, gradually realized during his limited playing time that he had more fuel in the tank than he had imagined.

In the first quarter, it was Jamison's 11 points in the second half that allowed the Warriors, playing at home, to take the lead.

Even in the twilight of his career, he still has the opportunity to prove himself again—on this night, in just half a quarter, Jamison conquered the Oracle Arena fans with his all-around offensive skills.

"I promise I won't do it again."①
During the break, Jamison suddenly clenched his fist as he recalled the promise he had to make to his teammates, the media, and the fans when he first joined the Cavaliers, due to his poor performance.

Jamison did not tell his teammates his true thoughts at this moment.

But if he could, this would definitely be Jamison's most anticipated episode of the Knicks making it to the Finals.

Jamison believed that with Qin Yue leading the team, the Warriors would definitely make it to the NBA Finals.

Therefore, Jamison was more eager than ever to tell that eternally young king on the Finals stage:
—You can't always be strict with others and lenient with yourself. Now, it's your turn to reflect on yourself.

Oracle Arena.

After a short break, both the Warriors and the Mavericks fielded bench lineups that were more luxurious than the starting lineups of many other teams in the second quarter.

Warriors: Brown, McRoberts, Dunleavy, Curry, Jack.

Mavericks: Mahinmi, Brewer, Peja, Terry, Kidd.

The Mavericks' offense during rotation phases mainly relies on the outside shooting of Peja and Terry.

The Warriors' main offensive threats are Curry and Dunleavy.

On TNT, Barkley made a very insightful but ultimately meaningless comment about the second-string lineups of both teams: "You ask me who has the advantage in the rotation between the Warriors and the Mavericks? To be honest, I don't know, but I do know that whoever shoots more accurately will have the upper hand."

Indeed, since both the Mavericks and Warriors' second units rely heavily on three-pointers, this is clearly a shooting game about who can shoot more accurately.

On the court, the Warriors have possession of the ball.

Curry successfully drew the Mavericks' defense's attention on the right wing with Brown's screen. Seeing this, Curry, who was learning to pass the ball from Nash every night, immediately passed the ball to Dunleavy, who was in a better position.

From the corner, Dunleavy, who is effective both on and off the court, hit a three-pointer.

The Mavericks then launched their attack.

Terry circled most of the court back to the top of the arc to receive the ball, and with a swift stroke, swish!
This was a half-quarter of the game where neither side could gain the upper hand.

The only surprising thing was that Brown failed to impress Brewer in the low post.

That was a small-ball play that Curry created for Brown after a pick-and-roll.

In the Mavericks' paint, facing Brewer, who weighs only 90 kilograms, Brown seemed to be like James crashing into a mountain in Puerto Rico, struggling to squeeze out of position for a long time.

As a result, Brown, whose face turned red instantly, then performed a backflip in front of Brewer that made Qin Yue instinctively cover his face with one hand.

How can one describe Brown's fadeaway jump shot with his feet turned out and his hands seemingly untamed?
At this moment, Qin Yue, who was still resting on the bench, could only say: From now on, Brown should not say that he knows him when he goes out.

Midway through the second quarter, and even upon returning to the court, Qin Yue deliberately kept his distance from Brown.

"Did I do something wrong?" Brown asked, completely bewildered, looking at Qin Yue, who clearly didn't want to talk to him.

Upon hearing this, Ben said, "Messiah said that the turnaround fadeaway you just did on the court was very similar to LeBron James."

"Really?" Brown asked, both surprised and delighted. "I thought I messed up. I didn't expect him to give me such high praise."

Is saying you play like LeBron James really a high compliment?
On the Warriors' bench, Ben Wallace felt that Brown was completely beyond saving.

In the latter part of the second quarter, Qin Yue, who had been covering for his teammates, finally unleashed the offensive mode that Mavericks head coach Woodson had been longing for.

The Warriors were on offense when Qin Yue, who received the ball on the left wing, swiftly faked out Marion with a crossover dribble.

Then, Qin Yue dribbled into the Mavericks' paint and scored despite Chandler's help defense.

Right!
It's finally to my liking!
Although Woodson secretly hoped the Mavericks' defense could limit Qin Yue's individual offense, when the GOAT (Golden Attackor) slammed the ball into the basket with unparalleled ease, this was clearly the Qin Yue Woodson knew.

Now, let's go back to that question.

Why did Qin Yue, who didn't start attacking on the field, make Woodson feel afraid?

The less Qin Yue intervened, the more worried Woodson became that GOAT was conserving his energy, preparing to unleash a powerful burst of energy to take down the Mavericks at any moment.

Even though Qin Yue never thought of it that way from beginning to end.

Just like back in the day when Jordan stretched on the court, his opponents would automatically imagine that Jordan was planning to dominate the game in the following match.

When your strength reaches a certain level, your every move will naturally become the focus of your opponents' attention.

In later years, the famous "Mad Dog" Beverley once said: "Whenever I was responsible for guarding Stephen Curry, what I feared most was never him running all over the court with me, but the moments when he was completely still in front of me. You may not believe it, but the quieter Curry was, the more I felt that he was going to do something on the court next."

On the court, after scoring several consecutive possessions and drawing the Mavericks' defense back to him, Qin Yue still focused on creating opportunities for his teammates in this quarter.

On the sidelines, on the Warriors' bench, Malone knew very well that this was a major sign that Qin Yue was becoming more and more mature.

In the past, although Qin Yue would actively create opportunities for his teammates, in this game, Qin Yue was clearly guiding the whole team with a specific purpose.

Over the years, Qin Yue has come to understand and utilize his teammates more effectively, gradually developing a set of easy and enjoyable winning strategies.

Especially when facing a strong opponent like the Mavericks.

Qin Yue knew very well that blindly going all out would only lead him into a vicious cycle of getting more and more tired.

Only by using your own appeal to create opportunities for your teammates and help them find their rhythm can you play more and more easily in the game.

For example, in the second half, Qin Yue, who almost broke through Marion's defense right from the start, then handed the stage to Jamison and Wallace, who were getting stronger and stronger throughout the game, after the Mavericks tightened their defense on him.

As a result, under the repeated attacks of the Warriors' two forwards, the Mavericks' defensive attention to Qin Yue dropped as soon as he was on the perimeter. On the court, Qin Yue casually pierced through Marion's defense.

That night, Chandler, who was always unable to provide timely support to Qin Yue, unfortunately became the backdrop for Qin Yue's defense the next second.

Bang-dang——!
At Oracle Arena, when Qin Yue transformed into a battle axe and smashed Tyson Chandler's head, Brown, who was even happier than when he scored himself, immediately led the Warriors' bench in exclaiming, "He murdered Tyson Chandler!"

TNT's Barkley commented, "In this game, Messiah first used his personal rhythm to drive the Warriors' offensive rhythm, and then used that rhythm to affect the Mavericks' defense."

At that moment, Barkley hit the nail on the head.

But he overlooked one point.

That is, under Qin Yue's influence, the Mavericks' pre-game strategy of weakening Qin Yue's performance by constantly wearing him down on both offense and defense has long since vanished without them realizing it as the game progresses.

Do you remember why Parker frequently used pick-and-rolls with Nowitzki to move Qin Yue away from the paint in the first quarter?
This way, the Mavericks can not only weaken Qin Yue's defensive influence in the paint, but also, under the Mavericks' constant movement and control, Qin Yue will inevitably waste a lot of energy.

But now, as Qin Yue makes it easier for his teammates to play, they in turn provide him with excellent offensive space. Even if the Mavericks don't actively wear down Qin Yue, he has to actively seek out Nowitzki to match up against.

On the court, under Qin Yue's relentless pressure, Nowitzki's offensive attempts bounced off the rim several times in a row.

Even Qin Yue couldn't prevent Nowitzki from scoring on the court.

However, in this game, Qin Yue, whose stamina was depleted much slower than Nowitzki's, used his stamina advantage to create the illusion that Nowitzki couldn't beat him at all.

"After all these years, Nowitzki still hasn't escaped Qin Yue's grasp." On CCTV, Zhang Weiping remarked this as he watched Nowitzki repeatedly fail to score against Qin Yue's defense.

Without a doubt, Qin Yue's performance that night far surpassed that of all the star players of his generation.

In the final score, the Warriors won 110-127, securing a resounding victory and a winning start to the Western Conference Finals.

全场比赛，总计为勇士拿到35分17篮板14助攻3封盖2抢断的秦岳毫无悬念地当选了全场最佳。

But compared to the statistics Qin Yue put up that night.
Any fan who watched the entire match would have this thought in their mind:
—The data is far from reflecting Qin Yue's control over the game on the field.

"Even when he's just standing quietly to the side during the Warriors' offense, I can feel his dominance." After the game, Marion, who was so badly beaten by Qin Yue that he wanted to kneel down and sing "Conquer" to his opponent, exclaimed, "In my opinion, he is at least fifty times better than Michael Jordan in his prime."

……

PS: Second update!

①: This quote comes from Antawn Jamison's debut game after joining the Cavaliers. He went 0-for-12 from the field, and afterwards took responsibility, saying, "I promise I won't do that again."

(End of this chapter)