So I am the god of basketball?

Chapter 102 A grand battle

Three people contributed "Best of the Month", which created NBA history.

In the original NBA, it was not until the 01-02 season that the NBA shared the "Best of the Month" for the first time. The "Boston Two-Headed Monster" formed by Walker and Pierce was the first combination in NBA history to contribute the "Best of the Month" .

Now this record has been broken by the Magic's "LV" combination 8 years in advance.

However, it’s really not a “hard gift”, but after 15 games in the first month, the data of the three members of the “LV” combination are as follows:

Meng Lang averaged 23.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game, shooting 52.3% from the field, 45.4% from three-point range, and 90% from free throws, reaching the level of the "180 Club" and averaging 2 turnovers per game;

沙克-奥尼尔场均27.4分11.4篮板2.4助攻2.4盖帽，投篮命中率60.2%，罚球命中率53.3%，场均2.6个失误；

安芬尼-哈达威场均21.4分4.6篮板8.6助攻2.2抢断，投篮命中率51.2%，三分球命中率35.4%，罚球命中率78.8%，场均2.8个失误；

The three cores averaged 20 points per game at the same time.

This is very rare in the history of the NBA. So far, it has only happened three times.

一次在凯尔特人，1966~1967赛季，萨姆-琼斯场均砍下22.1分4.7篮板3助攻、约翰-哈夫利切克场均21.4分6.6篮板3.4助攻以及拜利-霍维尔场均20分8.4篮板1.3助攻。

Twice with the Lakers:

第一次是1969~1970年的杰里-韦斯特场均31.2分7.5助攻、埃尔-金贝勒24分10.4篮板以及海尔斯顿20.6分12.5篮板；

第二次也是距离魔术队这次最近的一次发生在1980-81赛季，贾巴尔场均26分10.3篮板、威尔克斯场均22.6分5.4篮板、以及“魔术师”约翰逊的场均21.6分8.6助攻。

Relying on the "LV" combination, the Magic are rarely seen together with the Lakers and Celtics, the two giants in team history.

Each of them has produced absolute core performance and core statistics, and the three of them are so compatible on the court. Naturally, this "Best of the Month" cannot be given to one of them alone.

Of course, there are quite a few voices who believe that if this "Best of the Month" must be given to one person, it should be Meng Lang.

His recent presence on the offensive end has been noticed by all the media. With his improved assist ability, his position in the offensive tactical system will increase compared with before.

The division of labor and cooperation on the offensive end can be roughly divided into three parts:

Organizing support, attracting and containing, and finally finishing the attack.

Like Shaquille O'Neal, he mainly focuses on attracting, containing and finishing shots in this system.

He basically doesn't organize and coordinate these things.

He stops next to the basket, either to help his teammates attract defense and get open opportunities; or his teammates give the ball to him in the right position to help him complete the offense.

Like Hardaway, his ability to organize and finish shots and contain defensive formations is much worse than that of Meng Lang and Shaquille O'Neal.

Last season, Meng Lang's main job was the same as Shaq's, which was to attract and contain, pull the formation, and then complete the shot himself. The work related to organization and response is somewhat lacking.

This season, Meng Lang has participated in almost all offensive scenes, and his offensive role is also the highest for the Magic.

According to statistics from "ESPN", when the Magic move the ball in every round, they have to go through Meng Lang instead of Shaquille O'Neal. In one round, the number of times the ball passed through Shaq's hands but failed to reach Meng Lang's hands was really rare.

With such a large role on the offensive end, Meng Lang should naturally be the most important person on the Magic team's offensive end.

This is why "ESPN" and other media believe that Meng Lang should win this "Best of the Month".

One more reason...

"Shaquille O'Neal won the Player of the Month alone, so Dream needs a Player of the Month to prove his status with the Magic."

Meng Lang won last season's Finals MVP. After the game, reporters' voting was announced. Meng Lang only won Shaquille O'Neal with 2 more votes. This shows the fundamentals of the "Shark", but after Meng Lang won the MVP, more and more voices believe that Meng Lang is the boss of this Magic team!

Once this kind of sound appears, it will inevitably become more and more shrill. This is a certain thing!

The Orlando media has enough confidence in the atmosphere of the locker room. Last season, a large number of details of the locker room were disclosed, which proves this. And "Shark" has such a high emotional intelligence that he will definitely not make the team's atmosphere worse.

They believed so much, but what they didn't know was that after practice that day, Shaquille O'Neal went to Chuck Daly alone. He was dissatisfied with his current status on the team.

He feels like he should be finishing with more catches.

"I am a player who can average 30 points per game, Chuck, you should know my scoring ability!" His tone was a little eager, and the look in his eyes at Chuck Daly made this eagerness even more obvious. Revealed without a doubt.

Chuck Daly did not speak, but looked at him quietly for two or three seconds. In his eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate everything, the impatience on Shaquille O'Neal's face disappeared and became more intense. Confused.

At this time, Chuck Daly showed a fox-like smile. It was very light, but it left ripples in Shaquille O'Neal's heart.

This laughter seems to say:

I know what you are really impatient about!

"We are in the midst of a winning streak, are you sure you want to ruin the current team atmosphere?" Chuck Daly said, his tone so serious that O'Neal was speechless.

In the end, Shaquille O'Neal left in despair.

His words made the "Big Shark" aware of this problem. Although the current public opinion is somewhat unfavorable to him, this is not a good opportunity for him to seek change. Because the Magic are so successful.

If there is really a problem with the Magic's chemical reaction and the record fluctuates because of adjusting the proportion of his finishing shots, then he can think of who should be responsible for this with his toes.

So, the first time he "pressured" Chuck Daly, he failed.

At the same time, this time also made him feel the gap between himself and Chuck Daly. Originally, he thought he had a certain weight to compete with this "championship coach". As a result, he couldn't survive a move in the hands of Chuck Daly.

As for Chuck Daly, he had no joy of victory.

If he doesn't know how to handle a third grader, he can't unite the "Bad Boys". On the contrary, he was a little worried that since this hole was opened, there would only be a steady stream of them in the future.

"This shark is more cautious than I thought!"

Chuck Daly has long figured out Shaquille O'Neal's character. He seems carefree, but only if the stars support him. Whenever someone threatens his status, he will immediately become stingy. But he will hide it.

Shaquille O'Neal and Meng Lang must have a battle...

The good news is that as long as the Magic's record is stable, even though Shaquille O'Neal is anxious, he will not put pressure on him a second time so soon.

Fortunately!

In last season's finals, Meng Lang completed part of the "transfer of power" and showed enough strength to get Shaq to take action. Of course, this is also the fundamental reason why Shaquille O'Neal "pressured" the coaching staff.

A confrontation between Shaq and Chuck Daly went as quickly as it came.

Chuck Daly did not tell this matter. He is not Phil Jackson. He has higher ambitions. In order to control the team, he likes to do things such as "poaching" and sowing relationships.

He prefers that all players have a common goal to work towards.

Even if his ability to grasp the hearts of players is better than Phil Jackson. This does not require much discussion.

Meng Lang was interviewed before the start of daily training, and the media mentioned the topic of "Best of the Month". Meng Lang said: "I like the current state very much, whether it is me personally or the three of us. We have the ability and opportunity to create a great era. During our time with the Magic, we will become legends in the future!"

He also senses that the buzz about him being the leader of the Magic has grown louder lately.

For him personally, this is good news.

For the Magic, and for Shaquille O'Neal, whom he knows well, this is a "ticking time bomb." It is also rare for him to express his "real thoughts" on this matter. Michael Jordan's comeback is imminent, and the opportunity to beat this guy up is just around the corner. The Magic's team atmosphere must not have problems at this time.

If there is any problem, you have to wait until he kills Jordan!

You know, this is Michael Jordan's first loss in the playoffs since entering the 90s. How can he not take it?

His speech was effective.    At least Shaquille O'Neal became a "live treasure" again from the second day!

He gradually accepted being an equal with Meng Lang, as long as Meng Lang didn't ride on his head...

Well, everyone is the same, whether it's Shaquille O'Neal or Grant.

This time the league officially gave the "Best of the Month" to "LV Combination", excluding him, who considers himself a core member of the Magic team. He was just a little dissatisfied, and then laughed at himself:

Okay, okay!

Of course, there is another reason. His average of 13.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game is indeed far behind these three cores.

Grant never resisted the heat.

For example, he was never dissatisfied that he was not selected into the "Dream Team". His dissatisfaction with Jordan and Pippen was limited to the Bulls. This is his self-knowledge.

The Magic's first game in December is a blockbuster battle.

They are sitting at home and facing the San Antonio Spurs!

The Spurs changed their head coach this season, from John Lucas to Bob Hill.

The main reason for this coaching change has something to do with Rodman. Popovich believes a new head coach is needed to try to rein in Rodman. Last year the Spurs entered the Finals but were eliminated by the Jazz. Rodman's perverseness was a serious problem.

In the final game of the 93-94 regular season, the Spurs played against the Los Angeles Clippers. After the game, Rodman ran to Hollywood to film a TV show and failed to catch his flight. As a result, he missed the team's playoff training against the Jazz. Later, Rodman was ejected in the second game of the first-round best-of-five series against the Jazz and was suspended and missed the deciding game in the third game. In the end, the Spurs were eliminated by the Jazz.

But it turned out that there was only one head coach who could subdue Rodman, and that was Chuck Daly.

Other head coaches, including Phil Jackson, couldn't do it either.

The person who really suppressed Rodman in the Bulls was Jordan!

When the team gathered for the new season's closed training camp, Rodman missed the team's first training camp bus. Later, he was fined $15000 for missing a preseason game against the Bucks. In the last preseason game against the Hornets, Rodman was suspended indefinitely by the team for throwing an ice bag at head coach Bob Hill.

What is unexpected is that without Rodman, the Spurs still played a strong state. Throughout November, the Spurs had 11 wins and 12 losses, ranking first in the Western Conference. They trampled all the Western Conference giants like the Rockets and SuperSonics last season under their feet.

However, the outside world's attention to this game is not just because this game is a battle for first place in the East and West.

It’s also because of off-field factors for the players from both teams.

The battle for the "scoring title" at the end of last season caused Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson to completely fall out. In the end, O'Neal won the final "scoring title" with the support of Meng Lang and Hardaway. But that doesn't mean the conflict between him and David Stern is over.

On the contrary, it has just begun...

Before this game, when Shaquille O'Neal talked about David Robinson, he once again called him a "softie", and David Robinson did not give in at all, thinking that Shaquille O'Neal's "scoring champion" was Relying on the sacrifice of his teammates: "If it weren't for teammates like Dream, he wouldn't be able to win this 'scoring title'!"

When Shaquille O'Neal heard this, he sneered: "Are your teammates sacrificing enough? It's just because you didn't seize the opportunity!"

This is one of them.

Secondly, Madonna and Rodman broke up this summer. Rodman believed that Meng Lang ruined the relationship between him and Rodman.

Originally, these two people had conflicts, but now they have added the "revenge of taking away their girlfriends"!

When two teams meet with so many off-field factors, do you think it won't be a good look?

The only factors that may affect the popularity of this game are:

Will Rodman be able to play today?

After hitting Bob Hill, Rodman failed to get a chance to play at the end of the first month of the regular season. This is the first game in December, and there has been no word from the Spurs that Rodman will play.

"Bob, I have really realized my mistake. It was really reckless. I'm sorry for that, but I hope you can let me play in this game. I am eager to get back on the court. I hope you can promise me."

Rodman was also very anxious at the moment. He didn't want to sit on the bench and watch Meng Lang perform on the court in such a game. He felt uncomfortable just thinking about that feeling. He even took the initiative to knock on the head coach's room door, showing his urgency without reservation.

Bob Hill did not agree in a hurry, but asked him to go back to his room first.

This is what Popovich told him not to tell Rodman until the starting lineup is announced before the game starts.

"Let him remember this uneasy feeling so that he can settle down for a while!"

Bob Hill knew that he couldn't defeat Rodman with his own tactics, so he decided to try Popovich's tricks.

The effect of this move is not to mention quite useful.

During the Spurs' training camp in the afternoon, Rodman showed a well-behaved side, attended on time, and even practiced extra for a while.

Although he knew Rodman was pretending, Bob Hill was satisfied with this performance. So when the assistant coach asked him if he wanted to put Rodman on the active list, he nodded and agreed.

The news was quickly revealed.

After Rodman found out, he knocked on Bob Hill's room door again. He looked grateful and apologized to Bob Hill again.

Bob Hill told Popovich about the situation after he left.

That gave Popovich a sigh of relief.

He wanted to thank Meng Lang.

He believes that if it weren't for facing Meng Lang and the Magic, Rodman's attitude would never be as low as this.

Coincidentally, the atmosphere in the Spurs' locker room depends on Meng Lang.

The Magic's locker room atmosphere also depends on the Spurs!

Before the game started, in the locker room, Shaquille O'Neal took the lead in shouting the slogan: "Guys, this is a game we absolutely cannot lose! If we lose, Dream and I will lose face, give it to me." cheer up!"

Chuck Daly stood on the sidelines and watched Shaquille O'Neal take the lead as a "big brother" and asked Meng Lang: "If the opponent lets Dennis play, do they need to arrange more pick-and-rolls for you?"

Meng Lang shook his head and said confidently: "No need!"

After yesterday's team training match, a system prompt sounded in his mind:

"Ding, congratulations to the host for improving the vision ability to 99 points..."

"Ding, it is detected that the host's ability to run without the ball has reached..."

"Ding, congratulations to the host for getting the exclusive skill card for the star. Please enter the system as soon as possible and activate the skill card!"

……

Meng Lang, who had been stuck at 98 points for almost a month, finally broke through the shackles before the game against the Spurs and successfully filled up this ability card.

This should be the ability card he lights up the fastest.

But it also has something to do with the characteristics of the vision ability card.

It is very difficult to improve in this aspect.

At most, with the increase of experience, there will be a certain increase, and occasionally a "magic touch" will come, but it is absolutely impossible to reach the level of qualitative change.

Therefore, this potential cannot be said to be potential. In the term of martial arts novels, it is "enlightenment". In fairy tale novels, it is an "inheritance", which directly adds experience points to experience cards. In addition, there have been many special competitions and training matches recently, which can be said to be experience points. Yes.

Similarly, this ability card also activates exclusive skills:

"One-handed pass"!

(End of this chapter)