The longest river

Chapter 58 So your name is Rodman?

"Hansen Young's entry into the game changed the game's momentum." During a timeout, Ernie Johnson, in the commentary booth, analyzed the game situation as the match was broadcast on TNT.

"He improved the Pacers' offense," said Hubie Brown, a commentator and former NBA coach, astutely as ever.

Compared to their defense, the Pacers' bigger problem tonight was on offense.

The first half was almost over, and they still hadn't scored 40 points.

Rodman's addition gave the Bulls three players of the best defensive caliber, and with Harper also transforming into a defensive stalwart, this Bulls' defense could compete for the best in history.

The Pacers under Larry Brown were a defense-oriented team with a relatively weak offense, and the departure of Mark Jackson further diminished their half-court offense.

This ebb and flow has led to the situation we see tonight.

However, this changed after Yang Shuai came on. Although he only made one three-pointer, he made his presence felt on the offensive end, forcing the Bulls to pay attention to his movement on the weak side.

This change has given Schmitz and Miller better offensive opportunities than before.

After the timeout, the Bulls continued with the triangle offense, and Jordan received the ball and backed down Yang Shuai.

After seeing that the Pacers stopped double-teaming him, he lowered his body, forcing Yang Shuai to lower his center of gravity as well. He then turned and drove to the basket, jumped, dodged Schmitz's help defense in mid-air, switched to the other side of the basket, and scored with a layup.

This is a goal worthy of being selected as one of today's top five goals, even though it's commonplace for Jordan to score it.

"Defend! Defend!"

Jordan's basket stirred up the fans' emotions, and the arena erupted in a deafening roar of defensive chants.

The Bulls increased their defensive intensity once again, and their defense, filled with a lot of off-ball contact, brought the Pacers' offense to a standstill once more.

Scott finally drove to the basket and pulled up for a mid-range jumper.

However, Harper's interference ultimately caused the ball to miss the basket.

But just then, a gasp of surprise rang out from the crowd.

Yang Shuai appeared above the basket!

Yang Shuai's relatively light weight puts him at a disadvantage on the defensive end against Jordan, but it becomes an advantage on the offensive end when he moves off the ball.

He had been closely guarded by Jordan and had no chance to receive the ball. He put his hands on his hips and pretended to give up the attack. But after Scott took the shot, he suddenly accelerated past Jordan and rushed into the paint. After successfully judging the landing point of the basketball, he jumped up.

Yang Shuai caught the ball in mid-air and was about to put up a spectacular putback dunk.

But at that moment, Rodman suddenly turned around, sprang up from the ground, and poked the ball directly at the ball.

Rodman, who is about the same height as Yang Shuai as an inside player, was able to win the rebounding title for four consecutive seasons, averaging 17 or 18 rebounds per game. In addition to his excellent positioning skills, he also had strong physical attributes.

His explosiveness and speed are top-notch, allowing him to jump in an instant.

However, Yang Shuai, who was already in the air, did not back down. He used his auxiliary hand to support Rodman's body to maintain his balance, concentrated all his strength in his right hand, grabbed the ball, and smashed it down hard.

"Oh!"

The moment the ball slammed into the basket, the United Center fell silent for a moment, then exploded.

"What happened?!" Hubie Brown was dumbfounded.

Yang Shuai actually dunked over Rodman?!
“Incredible!” Ernie Johnson exclaimed after regaining his senses.

After Yang Shuai made that three-pointer, they thought he was a shooter, but he quickly changed their minds.

Yang Shuai let out an excited roar after landing.

He never expected that a simple dunk would turn into a dunk over someone else.

This was thanks to Scott's earlier advice; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to complete the follow-up dunk after the aerial confrontation, and might even have been injured again.

After Yang Shuai finished yelling, he turned around to collect some points from Rodman, but before he could even open his mouth, Rodman bumped into him hard.

Rodman seemingly went to the backcourt to inbound the ball casually, but he managed to hit Yang Shuai from his line of sight, and he did so with great force that he almost knocked Yang Shuai down.

It was obvious that Rodman was angry after being dunked on by Yang Shuai.

Yang Shuai reacted quickly and gave Rodman a hard shove; he wasn't the type to take a loss lying down.

However, to his utter surprise, Rodman, who dared to jump and go head-to-head with him for a putback dunk, suddenly turned into a paper doll that would fall over at the slightest touch the moment Rodman exerted his strength. Rodman was pushed down under the basket and fell into a heap with the photographer.

Moreover, after falling to the ground, he didn't get up, but lay there with his hands raised to indicate that he was innocent.

The referee blew his whistle immediately, indicating a technical foul by Yang Shuai.

Yang Shuai was stunned.

Seeing Rodman's smug grin after being pulled up by his teammates, he instantly realized he had fallen for their trap.

This guy looks like a tough guy, but I never expected him to be so cunning.

Just then, a whistle blew from the sidelines, and Yang Shuai was substituted off the court by McGee.

Yang Shuai did not play in the first half, and the Pacers trailed the Bulls by 15 points at halftime, 41-56.

Although the point difference was quite large, the outcome was still uncertain. During halftime, Ernie Johnson and Hubie Brown both mentioned Yang Shuai again.

Yang Shuai only played for 3 minutes in the first half, but contributed 5 points efficiently. Although he received a technical foul for his youth, his offensive impact was obvious.

If Brown can use him earlier in the second half, the Pacers have a chance to continue narrowing the gap in the third quarter.

That's how they analyzed it, but when the second half started, the reality was quite different from what they had expected.

Yang Shuai did not play in the entire third quarter, and the Pacers were unable to continue to narrow the gap in this quarter.

On the contrary, the Bulls increased their defensive intensity and widened the score gap to 25 points, making the game no longer suspenseful.

"Has Larry forgotten something?" This confused Ernie Johnson.

Hubie Brown, standing to the side, gave a wry smile; perhaps only he understood Larry Brown's thoughts.

Ultimately, the Bulls secured a resounding 104-84 victory over the Pacers in their home opener, giving them a winning start to the season.

Before this, the Bulls had only a 5-2 record in the preseason, which led to doubts about their team cohesion. However, they dispelled those doubts in just one game.

Jordan's 45-point performance officially announced the return of the basketball god.

After the game, Rodman took off his sweat-soaked jersey and threw it directly into the stands as a reward for the Bulls fans.

The Pacers players walked back to the locker room with their heads down.

Yang Shuai did not go back with his teammates; he stayed in the stadium for extra training.

Although his debut came earlier than expected, he felt more depressed after the game.

There was the lesson Rodman taught him, but more than that, there was a sense of powerlessness, like having energy but nowhere to use it.

He might even feel better if he gets DNP tonight, since then the outcome of the game wouldn't have much to do with him.

The most frustrating thing is playing in a game where you're on the field but can only watch helplessly at crucial moments.

He slammed the ball down in a fit of rage until he was completely exhausted.

Just as he was about to compose himself and head back to the locker room, an unexpected figure appeared in the arena.

"It took me a while to find out you were here."

Still wearing his wrinkled tracksuit, Vaccaro smiled and waved to Yang Shuai.

"Sonny? What are you doing here?"

Yang Shuai was surprised. He hadn't seen or heard from Vaccaro since they parted ways at the Adidas headquarters.

Of course, there was also a hint of joy; being able to run into an acquaintance at such a time was something to be happy about for him.

"You know, even though I didn't stay with Nike, I could still ask Michael for a ticket."

Vaccaro gestured for Yang Shuai to sit on the sidelines and chat for a while.

Yang Shuai immediately realized that Vaccaro and Jordan had worked together at Nike for so long that their private relationship must be quite good.

"Do you know what? Tomorrow, a picture of you dunking over Rodman will be in the newspaper."

After sitting down, Vaccaro praised Yang Shuai's dunk.

Yang Shuai gave a wry smile, then shook his head: "More than that, I hope to win the game tonight."

On a night of crushing defeat, it was hard for him to be complacent about a single dunk.

"This Bulls team is the strongest I've ever seen, even stronger than the previous dynasty Bulls team. Losing to them doesn't matter; what's important is that you performed well."

Vaccaro noticed Yang Shuai's mood and offered words of comfort.

As a high school student, Yang Shuai's performance tonight, within the limited time available, far exceeded expectations, especially his dunk over Rodman, which showcased his talent to everyone.

Yang Shuai was stunned for a moment after hearing this. Why did this sound so familiar?

The team lost, but I didn't?
"You didn't come here just to watch me play basketball, did you?"

Yang Shuai was still somewhat puzzled by Vaccaro's appearance.

If that were the case, Vaccaro could have approached him before the match.

When Yang Shuai asked this question, Vaccaro's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he immediately became serious:
"I learned a lesson from your sneaker signing: other people's decisions do not equate to your failure."

Yang Shuai seemed to be thinking about what Vaccaro meant when he said that he had figured out what happened when he was betrayed by Adidas headquarters.

But he didn't understand why Vaccaro would suddenly come and tell him this at this time.

After all, he didn't end up going to Adidas, and Vaccaro had already left the company.

However, Vakaro's next words resolved all his doubts and revealed why Vakaro had appeared before him at this time.

"So I made a comeback and accepted Reebok's invitation."

(End of this chapter)