So I am the god of basketball?

Chapter 121 No. 45 Jordan is indeed not as good as No. 23 Jordan!

On the second day of this game, Nike's marketing achieved great results.

Discussions in the major media are all focused on the inheritance of Michael Jordan and Hardaway.

"Penny" gained a lot of discussion overnight that exceeded his original popularity.

Everyone began to take his existence seriously, because Michael Jordan believed that Hardaway was the most like him!

Hardaway was greeted by more reporters than usual after the game, and he was also a little excited and said: "I have always regarded Michael as the target I want to chase. It must be a very incredible thing to be attracted by him. I hope I can become the next him." !”

Previously, Meng Lang said to Webber, "I don't think you will necessarily be the next 'Magician', you will be the first Chris Webber," and he was listening. He thought it was cool and very West Coast.

But if there is a record of becoming the second Jordan, Hardaway is also willing not to be the first "Penny" Hardaway. This is his respect for Michael Jordan. As a guy who grew up watching Jordan play, Hardaway's basketball world is really only Jordan!

He was experiencing what he felt was the best moment of his career, and Chuck Daly watched the overwhelming discussion about Hardaway outside the court. The first thing he did after arriving in Chicago was to find Shaquille O'Neal and talk to him. A very important conversation:

"How about it, man? If this continues, you may become the third boss of this team..."

O'Neal didn't know at first that Chuck Daly was specifically asking him to say what he wanted to say.

Upon hearing his first straight-to-the-point sentence, a hint of pig liver color immediately appeared on his round face.

In fact, this morning I saw that the newspapers were full of discussions about Hardaway, and there was no media discussion about him scoring 32 points again yesterday. He has been in a very low mood.

He gradually accepted the fact that he was not as popular as Meng Lang. ——What can he do? Meng Lang faced Jordan, scoring 60 points on the latter's head, and running Jordan until his legs cramped. After this game, Meng Lang's popularity was destined to be incomparable to him.

A smart person should learn to "retreat bravely", so no matter what honor he lost to Meng Lang this year, he would accept it!

Basketball is not a game of one round, nor can a career be determined in one season. Everyone's career has just begun, and whoever laughs last is truly awesome.

but……

Although he accepted that Meng Lang's popularity could surpass him, he really couldn't accept that another member of the "LV" group also surpassed him in terms of momentum.

And anyway, Meng Lang used his performance on the court to steal his limelight bit by bit. Although Hardaway also performed well, compared to him, he should not be as stable as him, right?

Why now...

Jordan said "He is the most like me", so he moved Hardaway in front of him?

This Shaq must be a hundred unwilling!

Just being exposed by Chuck Daly in front of his face made Shaquille O'Neal blush a little. ——After all, he is only 24 years old, and he is not the glib "old shark" he became later.

He hesitated, not knowing what to say.

In other words, he knew what he should say:

Anfernee did perform very well. He deserves such popularity. I don’t care where I am in this team. As long as we keep winning, it will be the best result...

Well, although these words are grand, how can Shaquille O'Neal open his mouth!

If he didn't care about his status on the Magic team, why wouldn't his current relationship with Meng Lang be awkward?

Chuck Daly didn't wait for him to continue speaking, and directly stated his purpose: "In the third game of the series, I will give you more shots than before. This is your chance to prove to everyone. Your chance to make a presence on the pitch!”

"You don't really want to be the third-in-command of the Magic, right?"

The next game will start in Chicago.

According to Chuck Daly, this game will be the most critical game.

If he can't crack this hard nut, then in his opinion, this series will definitely get out of control.

An opponent like Michael Jordan must be beaten to death with a stick. It would be difficult to beat him blindly after he takes a breath!

Chuck Daly really has to thank Nike and Jordan for this wave of marketing. Originally, he really had to think hard about how to play the third game of this series, the Magic's first away game in this series.

Unexpectedly, his opponent gave him a pillow when he fell asleep.

If we don't give the Bulls a beating, we will be sorry for the feelings of Michael Jordan and Nike.

Shaquille O'Neal is Chuck Daly's "X-factor" for Game 3 of the series!

The Bulls also knew that they could not lose the third game of the series no matter what. From Phil Jackson to all the players, they paid enough attention:

Phil Jackson canceled the locker room interview before the game, explaining that it was to better prepare for the game.

Reporters saw that Jordan's car had been parked in the underground parking lot of the United Arena as early as 6 hours before the game, but it was not until 2 hours before the game that Jordan appeared at the game court to warm up.

It seems different from usual.

But everyone knows how much hard work Jordan put in to prepare for this game. ——To say that this person does not think he is a goat, he is not as good as a person who calls himself a goat. If this person came to the arena 5 hours in advance, he must have been warming up at the competition venue.

Can this warm-up in advance without being seen be called "warm-up in advance"?

Everything must be shown in front of the camera.

Including some "milestones", even when the referee did not blow the whistle, "kneeling down" in emotion, and after his knee was hit by someone else's back, he had to take a look at the camera and his position to ensure that the camera could see it for the first time. Seen at once.

What is "goat's lens art"!

In this regard, Jordan is far behind.

Jordan was not prepared to appear in front of the camera, but Chuck Daly looked solemn when he was arranging tactics before the game.

Hardaway defended very well in the last game, so in this game, he still gave Hardaway the task of guarding Jordan. He just warned: "If you feel that the defense is not ideal, don't be affected. You just need to focus on the offensive end." If you do it well, you’ve accomplished your mission!”

As the "mastermind" who once kept Jordan in the Eastern Conference and unable to enter the finals, Chuck Daly understands Jordan's horror all too well. So before the game started, he frantically took "vaccination shots" because he was really afraid that Hardaway's mentality would explode.

This kind of situation has not happened before...

Now that Hardaway is in the midst of the most heated discussions among the media, it is inevitable that he will be more energetic than usual. If this happens in a big way from Jordan, I am afraid that not only this game will be affected, but also the following series. .

To ensure absolute suppression against the Bulls, the Magic's "five-star starting lineup" is indispensable.

Chuck Daly's concerns are still warranted.

At the beginning of the game, Michael Jordan showed his warm-up state, facing Hardaway with the ball continuously, and scored in singles.

Hardaway, who clearly restricted Jordan very well in the last game, seemed to be powerless when facing Jordan again, unable to keep up with Jordan's rhythm. If Chuck Daly hadn't given him a set of "psychic horses and chickens" in advance, Hardaway would have fallen into impatience at this moment.

This shows how important "chicken soup for the soul" like Chuck Daly is.

Of course, this is the correct way to open "Chicken Soup for the Soul". If you are like Rivers, who has three goals but no dates, no matter how much you make chicken soup, it will be useless, so Rivers has also become a 3-1 lead in the playoffs. The head coach who has been reversed the most times...

Hardaway was beaten on the defensive end. According to Chuck Daly, he completed every distribution of the ball on the offensive end. Tonight's Magic team will focus on interior offense as Chuck Daly and Shaquille O'Neal said before.

Shaquille O'Neal, who was holding his breath, caught the Bulls' inside line and unleashed a wave of brutal output.

At the end of the first quarter, he scored 13 points!

It was basically a tie with Jordan, who was in great form right from the start. Jordan scored 14 points in the first quarter.

But except for Jordan, who is exerting his strength, the other players on the Bulls are not in ideal condition.

Including Jordan's "right-hand man" Pippen, he only made 3 of 1 shots in the first quarter.

This is Pippen, you can't always count on him to be consistent. Just like LeBron can't expect his teammates to hit the last shot "that he trusts" every time.

Of course, there is another reason for Pippen's unstable state:

Meng Lang also strengthened his independent offense tonight and scored 8 points in a single quarter!

Shot 9 times...

This efficiency is not very high.

But even so, with the shooting threat Meng Lang now poses to the outside world, even if his basket is a little inaccurate, Pippen doesn't dare to let him go easily.

Just kidding, if he lets him shoot the ball and makes Jordan's legs cramp, he will probably be sprayed to death by the Chicago fans.

The problem is that Meng Lang seems to be familiar with his past defensive habits. In this game, his movement was more erratic, and he took more determined shots tonight, which resulted in Pippen needing to expend more energy than before. Only then was he able to keep up with Meng Lang's movement without being thrown thousands of miles away by his kick of the accelerator.

Too much input on the defensive end resulted in Pippen being unable to provide enough help on the offensive end.

Kukoc really wants to give his idol enough support. But Grant is not a man for nothing, and his restraint makes Kukoc too busy to take care of himself. He is simply unable to make a sound in time when someone needs to stand up.

This resulted in the Magic easily opening up a 7-point gap at the end of the first quarter.

Chuck Daly did not relax. During the first quarter, he still arranged the Magic's offense and defense very carefully. Check for leaks and make up for them to ensure that some of the Magic's minor problems in the first quarter can be eliminated in time.

By the end of the third quarter, the Magic's lead reached 11 points.

He just breathed out a short breath.

But at this time, he suddenly remembered Tomjanovich in June last year, and said in his heart:

Opening champagne at half-time is a big no-no!

Then he looked at the court with a serious face, urging the Magic players on the court to relax every possible moment.

Michael Jordan is completely crazy!

Even though Chuck Daly gave Hardaway several sets of "psychic horse killing chicken" before the game, Hardaway's expression gradually showed some self-doubt.

It's not surprising, you know, at the end of the third quarter, Jordan's score had reached 35 points!

There is still one quarter left in this game, and based on his condition, scoring 40 plus points should be a sure thing. There is even a chance of breaking his scoring trend in the first game of the series and scoring 50 points is not a bad idea.

It's just that Jordan, who played so well, didn't see any expression of excitement on his face. Instead, he pursed his lips from time to time, expressing his true inner thoughts:

impatient!

Even though he scored so many points, the Magic are still in the lead. The Bulls still don't see any hope of winning.

If he can't win the ball, no matter how many points he scores, it's still "empty scoring." He can't be happy just because he scored 40 points in front of juniors like Shaquille O'Neal, Meng Lang, and Hardaway. ?

The "God of Basketball" can't afford to lose this person!

And the current feeling made him feel like he was back in the 80s...

At that time, he took the lead alone, and no matter what kind of performance he performed, he could not lead the Bulls to the last laugh.

For Jordan, when he returned to this league, he did not come back with the thought of going through the "turbulent years" again, but with the thought of "I'm here again, I conquered again". Even if it's not this season, then He shouldn’t have lost so miserably!

Being beaten 0-3 in the series by a new team, he did not want to see such a humiliating scene.

This dissatisfaction made his hands clenched into fists at some point.

But at this moment, the Magic suddenly changed their formation and began to defend against his breakthrough. Jordan, who was a little confused, didn't react at first and forced himself to play two without scoring.

By the time he quickly adjusted, the Magic had taken advantage of this opportunity and opened the point difference to 15 points.

This is the situation of the Bulls. Facing the "Five-Star Magic" with 73 wins, if they fail to react quickly to a decision, they will inevitably pay the price of widening the point difference. And once the score difference is widened, it will be difficult to narrow it.

The United Arena was silent.

In this game, the Bulls always had a glimmer of hope thanks to Michael Jordan's performance.

But because there was only Michael Jordan, Chicagoans sat on the sidelines watching the game, feeling like "boiling a frog in warm water." What's even more painful is that they know that they are frogs, but they still can only watch as the temperature of the surrounding water rises and cooks them.

This feeling of waiting to die is really torture!

Chuck Daly did not give Jordan a chance to fight alone. The Magic used constant double-teaming to force Jordan to pass the ball to the Bulls' teammates who did not perform well tonight.

The time has come to the fourth quarter, and the status of the rest of the Bulls has basically been determined. In this way, the Magic won the first away game of this series with a 16-point difference, changing the big score to 3-0!

At the end of the game, the Magic team high-fived each other and celebrated loudly.

Facing Jordan 2-0 is not a lead, but facing Jordan 3-0, no matter how cautious you are, you will not think that you have no advantage.

To sweep Jordan, all it takes is the last "final kick"!

They couldn't help but be excited!

Moreover, since they can win three games in a row, it somewhat proves that this Bulls team is indeed inferior to them.

Jordan's final score was fixed at 43 points, another 40-plus game. Unfortunately, the team's points loss reached a new level. The 16-point deficit was the Bulls' largest loss in this series.

Michael Jordan left the game, and reporters on the sidelines wanted to stop him and conduct interviews as usual. But Jordan, who was blocked, just glanced at him and made the reporter involuntarily choose to retreat.

That look was full of indifference and severity.

He is a new reporter who has just joined the industry, and this is the first time he has seen Jordan look like this.

Looking at his retreating back, the reporter suddenly felt like he was looking at an "old wolf king" defeated by the "new wolf king":

Staggering, with loneliness!

This is also very consistent with the current situation between Jordan and the Bulls.

In the best-of-seven games, after three games, the Magic won three consecutive victories, like the majestic and heroic "New Wolf King", while the Bulls fell again and again, and the gap became wider and wider. Big, and indeed looks very much like the "Old Wolf King" who should retire.

He wanted to write a title like this, but...

His reason told him: This is Jordan, and no one can easily give him the "death penalty"!

Jordan left in anger and did not accept any interviews. However, after the game, Meng Lang once again "played with fire" and said:

"There is something I have wanted to say for a long time..."

"No. 45 Jordan is indeed not as good as No. 23 Jordan!"

(End of this chapter)