Champion Rules

Chapter 34 031: He understood why the whole United States was waiting for his landing as if it were God's coming (Please read!)
Nokia Arena, Tampere, Finland.

Lynch brought his Real Madrid to the venue of the Final Four to participate in the pre-game media meeting.

As soon as I got off the car, a flood of media rushed over like an avalanche.

“Lynch!”

“Look here!”

“Can I ask questions in English?!”

Beneath Lynch's well-tailored navy blue suit, a thin layer of sweat was already forming on his back. As the European sports media's lens matrix pinned him to the wheel of fate, this young Chinese man, who still had two weeks to wait before he was eligible to take his driver's license, suddenly wanted to pull out his phone.
"17 years old, just got off the bus, starting in the Champions League semi-finals, being surrounded by 300 microphones. Anyone got experience? Waiting online!"

The final four of this year's Champions League are all top teams among the top teams, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Israeli giants Maccabi Tel Aviv and CSKA Moscow gathered here.

Real Madrid's next opponent is the Israeli giants.

From 1970 to 1992, Maccabi created an exaggerated record of 23 consecutive championships in Israel.

In addition to the league championship, the honor display room also has three European League championship trophies.
Their 1981 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers made them the first European club in basketball history to defeat an NBA team.

If you think their glory only exists in the distant past, you are wrong.

Because they just won the European Championship in 2001.

At the press conference, Julio Lamas and Maccabi head coach David Blatt, who later went to Cleveland with the halo of "King of Europe" but was expelled by the Kings in disgrace, were engaging in the most professional business promotion in Europe.

"Oh, David may not have been a head coach for a long time, but he is a very, very smart guy. He has a deep understanding of basketball and his tactical wisdom far exceeds his coaching years."

"A tribute to Coach Julio, who has restored the glory of Madrid basketball."

The atmosphere seemed very peaceful, but when the players were interviewed individually, the air suddenly became tense.

"My goal is to destroy Lynch," Maccabi's import, Marcio Baston, bluntly told a reporter from the British basketball magazine, The Jump. "Don't get me wrong, I don't know him at all and there's no personal vendetta against him, but who wouldn't want to take down a top-three draft pick? Last year at this time, he was also a North American sensation for taking down Darko Milicic. Lynch will thank me because I gave him a taste of NBA intensity early on, so he won't have such a hard time adjusting during Summer League."

"Are you serious? So far this season, no one wants to defend Lynch. After all, defending Lynch is equivalent to embarrassing yourself, and embarrassment is worse than no one knowing. Do you really want to annoy Lynch at this time?" The reporter from "Beat" magazine reminded.

Marcio Baston shook his finger. "He'll be the one who gets embarrassed."

This defensive stalwart, who graduated from the University of Texas and once played for the Toronto Raptors, swallowed back his unfinished words: As long as I kill him, the door to the NBA will be reopened for me.

Just like Boshko told Lynch before, professional players will not take care of you just because you are children. All they want is their contract so that their family can maintain the living standards they have had in the past few years. And to get the contract, they have to beat everyone.

Is there any better springboard for that in the European leagues than Lynch?

He was famous, very famous. He had never been to the United States, but the whole of America was looking forward to his visit.

So if they beat him, every team in the league will see Marcelo Baston.

Unlike most American players Lynch had faced before, Marcio Baston would be directly matched up against Lynch. Furthermore, he was a player who had made his mark in Europe through his defense.

He has excellent mobility, good height and wingspan, and outstanding defensive awareness.

So far in the European League, he has averaged 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, a typical all-around defensive forward.

In the last round against Vilnius Sarakis from Lithuania, he set a new European League record with 8 blocks in a single game.

He knew that he didn't have to compete with the young genius in scoring. As long as he could use a cage built of steel and iron to defeat the rising star who was eagerly awaited by the other side of the Atlantic, he would be a great success.

As for scoring, any team that has the European king Sarunas Jasikevicius does not need to worry about scoring.

Baston can concentrate on dealing with Lynch on the defensive end, he has the confidence to do so.

An ESPN reporter told Lynch these words, and Lynch spread his hands indifferently.

"I don't know any Marcio Baston."

"He has experience playing in the NBA. How much do you think that will help you adapt to the NBA?"

"His role is approaching zero. He is someone eliminated by the league."

"It seems you are merciless, Lynch."

"Of course, I'm not going to be playful with someone who openly says he wants to destroy me."

"Let's talk about the draft. The lottery is about to begin. Which team do you hope will get the No. 1 pick?"

"I hope the team that wants to win takes the No. 1 pick."

The work the day before the game was very tiring. Although he just accepted various interviews and shot various posters, Lynch still felt tired after returning to his hotel room.

No wonder most NBA stars have countless illegitimate children, because after such a tiring day, you just want to feel some of the most primitive happiness.

On TV, major European TV stations are warming up for the Europa League semi-finals.

Apart from Lynch's Real Madrid, the team with the most traffic at the moment is undoubtedly Barcelona, ​​the triple crown winner last season.

Dejan Bodiroga also mentioned his arch-rival at the media conference today.

"Scare us? Scare us with post-match internal arguments? I don't care how popular and anticipated Lynch is in North America. This is Europe, man."

Theo watched the TV and shrugged. "You know what? I used to like him."

"It's okay, Theo," Lynch turned off the TV, "the kid from Serbia is going to take down the last Serbian talent and take over."

"Oh, just kill it, why did you turn off my TV?"

"Ah? Doesn't this better reflect my determination?"

"Hurry up and turn it on. Shrek the Monsters is on TV today."
-
Nokia Arena, the heat and humidity of the entire city seemed to be concentrated here.

A few hours earlier, Barcelona defeated CSKA Moscow here with a score of 93 to 85.

CSKA's two American black guns are very powerful, but they still seem to lack firepower under Barcelona's top European trident.

A Spanish team has already secured one of the final spots, and now it depends on whether Real Madrid can beat Maccabi and make history.

Since the European League began in 1958, there have only been three national derbies in the finals.

In 60 and 61, powerful Soviet clubs staged national derbies for two consecutive years.

The national derby between Cantu and Milan in 83 wrote the last glory of Italian basketball.

The Spanish national derby has never appeared in history, so Lynch holds the key to unlock new history.

The starting lineups for both teams gathered, and Machio Baston pointed at Lynch and said, "Welcome to the NBA."

Lynch ignored him. He didn't know where this man got his confidence from.

Sarunas Jasikevicius had a serious face. He was a fierce-looking man, very much like the grumpy white farmer in Hollywood movies who guarded his territory with a shotgun.

But unlike Marcio Baston, he said nothing.

Sure enough, a dog that bites doesn't bark.

The game starts and Maccabi has the ball.

Jasikevicius broke through immediately after crossing half court. He used his strong body to push Louis Block away and easily reached the mid-range.

This FIBA ​​star is only 193cm tall, but his sturdy frame doesn't make you think he's small. Lynch, as usual, provides help defense, protecting Louis Bullock from behind.

But Jasikevicius made a timely pass to Anthony Parker who was cutting in along the baseline.

He used his powerful athletic ability to shake off Herreros and made a layup over Fuzis' defense.

Real Madrid's defense is good at dealing with teams like Baskonia, which are strong overall but have weak individual explosive capabilities.

But they are afraid of teams with strong one-on-one players.

Unfortunately, both Barcelona and Maccabi have outside players with top-notch one-on-one abilities.

Whether it's Jasikevicius or Anthony Parker, they can score on their own.

The game continued, and Real Madrid still used the old strategy, pulling away and giving Lynch a one-on-one shot at the top of the arc.

Baston lowered his center of gravity like a cheetah, his eyes burning with excitement.

Lynch initiated the drive, and Baston, with his extraordinary agility, suddenly extended his long arms to grab the ball. Unlike other power forwards, Baston lowered his center of gravity and had the ability to use his long arms to steal the ball.

But Lynch's arm span is also exaggerated, so before Baston's hand touched the basketball, he was pushed away by Lynch's strong body and went into the inside.

Baston's vaunted "confrontation-and-tackling" approach failed on the first step.

He chased down the defense, trying to stay close to Lynch, and his mobility has always allowed him to do so.

But this time, he had tried his best. Even though the force of his kicking made his sneakers make a harsh sound on the floor, he was still half a body length behind Lynch.

Marcio Baston's best talents, such as strength of confrontation, arm span advantage, starting burst, mobility, and speed, were all crushed by Lynch!
This is why Lynch can make all NBA scouts crazy. His body is much stronger than in the FMP period, but his speed and flexibility seem to be unaffected.

Walking to the basket, Lynch raised the ball sideways.

Baston jumped up with both feet as hard as he could and flew into the air.

However, the forward who set the European League single-game block record in the previous game failed to block the ball. Lynch actually just made a fake move!

Lynch shook off Baston, calmly received the ball, turned around, and raised the basketball with one arm again.

The NBA scouts in the stands leaned forward. Was he going to make a hook shot?

Lynch has mastered a new skill?
Since Lynch showed good shooting skills in the ACB league this season, any improvement he makes will no longer surprise scouts.

Baston, shaken off his feet, leaped for a second time to interfere, but Lynch's powerful torso, already brimming with energy, crashed head-on like a heavy truck. With the muffled thud of muscles colliding, Lynch swung the basketball in a perfect arc, completing a slam dunk over the basket as the rim vibrated.

A hook shot? Too complicated.

Lynch then remembered Michael Jordan's wise words: If you don't beat him, you will mistakenly think we are at the same level.

Amid the shouts of the commentator, the camera panned to Baston. The defensive forward, so confident before the game, now looked at his teammates in bewilderment.

"Marcio Baston is completely unable to deal with Lynch. Even the best defensive striker in Europe is helpless against the number 10!"

Lynch scored, but Jasikevicius quickly responded with a pull-up three-pointer. He dribbled the ball to the three-point line and shot decisively, giving Lynch no chance to help defend.

Louis Brock reacted too slowly. By the time he jumped up to block, the Lithuanian had already completed his shot.

5 to 2, Maccabi continues to lead.

In the stands, some Barcelona fans who were deliberately waiting to see Real Madrid eliminated shouted: "We are so scared, afraid that you bunch of losers will not make it to the final!"

Louis Bullock glanced at the Barcelona fans and his temples throbbed suddenly.

"Damn you Catalan idiots!"

Real Madrid attacked and Lynch made another strong breakthrough.

This time, when he was about to finish with the ball at the basket, Anthony Parker came out from the wing like a ghost and cut the ball.

Anthony Parker is not only Maccabi's secondary attacking point, but also the defensive spearhead besides Baston. With a strong body of 198 cm, he can assist in defense on the front line.

If Baston can't defend Lynch, the defense formed by Baston and Anthony Parker certainly can.

The basketball fell, but Lynch immediately picked it up and forced a shot.

The four muscular arms were like an iron wall made of steel and iron, and the basketball bounced out of the basket in the fierce confrontation.

"It's mine!" Baston declared victory and jumped into the air, while Anthony Parker used his elbows to press Lynch's waist and abdomen to try to push him out of the penalty area.

However, when Lynch suddenly exerted his strength, the forward who had played in the NBA found that his strength was completely insignificant. Only an NBA-level inside player could compete with the outburst of No. 10.

The rising Chinese star rolled over the defense like a tank, stretched out his long arms over Baston's head, and turned the rebound that was about to be in his hands into a phantom that slipped away through his fingertips.

"What!? Damn it!" Baston cursed after landing, and the ball had already been passed to Herreros.

The Real Madrid captain who scored the winning goal in the previous game had not yet found his touch, so the ball bounced out of the frame.

Baston and Anthony Parker jumped at the same time, but the moment their bodies came into contact with Lynch, they were like paper men hit by a hurricane, and were thrown to the ground by the absolute force. They had to watch Lynch grab the rebound again!
"Fuck!" Anthony Parker felt powerless. He and Baston couldn't even touch the ball.

It wasn't over yet. Real Madrid's No. 10 seemed to defy the laws of physics, pushing off the ground twice and exploding into the air, his legs seemingly having endless power.

At this time, Baston and Anthony Parker, who landed at the same time as Lynch, could only look up.

"boom!"

The basket was groaning in the trembling, Lynch hung on two defenders to complete a two-handed dunk and scored strongly!

Baston stumbled to the ground, only able to witness the white spray of water as the ball passed through the net. The man ESPN called "the best defensive forward in Europe" finally understood the talent gap.

I also understand why the whole United States is waiting for his landing as if waiting for God to come.

Lynch glanced at Baston and spread his hands: "You should be the one thanking me, because this is your only chance to compete with the top NBA stars."

Baston didn't respond. He had nothing else to respond to.

There is no one in the whole of Europe who can defend the No. 10. He has already belonged to the next stage.

Lynch's dominance on the offensive end was still terrifying, but in the next few rounds, the two sides were still engaged in a tug-of-war.

Maccabi couldn't defend Lynch, and Real Madrid couldn't defend the connection between Jasikevicius and Anthony Parker.

In front of the TV, Dejan Bodiroga smiled easily.

There is no doubt about that child's personal ability; he is the strongest individual.

But he's not a leader yet.

Yes, Real Madrid was held together as a whole, but that was thanks to Albert Herreros.

But the person who really has to lead the team is Lynch. Real Madrid can't rely on the old man Herreros's winning goal in every game.

Real Madrid has no chance if they keep attacking like this. If Maccabi drags the game into the final three minutes and then tightens their defense, it will be over.

Dejan Bodiroga turned off the TV. George Faka, standing beside him, spread his hands and said, "Hey, why did you turn off the TV for me?"

"There's nothing to see," the Serbian legend shook his head. "Let's go play cards. Instead of watching kids playing house, we should do something meaningful. Oh, and have Roberto Carlos tell the Catalans to get the champagne ready. They can't wait for this crap El Clásico."

(End of this chapter)