So I am the god of basketball?

Chapter 71 No, no, you really can’t
  The good news is that after the Magic's starting lineup for the new season was announced, Nick Anderson smiled at Meng Lang for the first time.

So don’t feel like you’re being targeted in the workplace.

When your competitors show goodwill towards you, there is a high probability that you will be eliminated.

After Pat Williams saw the starting lineup for the new season, he was surprised and asked Chuck Daly: "I thought you would just let him sit in the starting position."

After all, Chuck Daly had recommended Meng Lang to him several times before he wanted to choose Meng Lang.

Chuck Daly laughed: "I believe in my vision, so I have absolute confidence in him. He doesn't need me to do anything for him!"

Thinking of something, he added: "That's right, Pat, you're probably going to suffer a little bit again!"

Pat Williams looked at his "fox-like" look with confusion on his face, but when the news came out the next day, he understood why Chuck Daly said that.

The silly "Orlando Sentinel" smelled the smell and bit it: "Is this the great Pat Williams? Two first-round picks and a second-round pick were exchanged for a second-round substitute. Pay attention to his price, 285 million!"

This time it’s not just the Orlando Sentinel. Many newspapers in North Carolina are also putting pressure on the Magic management, especially the editors who are from Duke. They cannot see Duke’s heroes being treated like this.

"If you think he is one of the cornerstones of the team's future, then please give him the treatment of a cornerstone!"

They have reason to be so angry. Anfernee Hardaway, who is also a rookie and was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA "March Madness", can start, but Meng Lang, who won the national championship, can only serve as a substitute.

Is the gap between the fourth pick in the first round and the third pick in the first round so big in Orlando?
  More than half a month has passed since the news of Michael Jordan's sudden retirement, and it still occupies the biggest hot spot in the sports circle.

However, it’s not just fans who still can’t accept this fact. Recently, ESPN, TNT and ABC have all had different rumors:

Michael Jordan was involved in gambling, betting and drug-trafficking scandals. He did not choose to retire because of the death of his father, but had to retire because of these scandals. This is David Stern's disguised protection for him.

It smells like a "conspiracy theory".

Yes, we have to find a reasonable explanation for Michael Jordan's retirement, right?
  They really couldn't accept the reason they chose to play baseball in order to fulfill their father's dream!

"Dream, do you think there are other reasons for Michael Jordan's retirement? Do you think he will come back in the future?"

Who is it!
  Is it over yet?

Seriously, don't let Meng Lang know who spread these rumors, otherwise he will have to put the microphone in front of him into the eyes of these people.

This group of reporters who finally calmed down, because of these rumors, like flies, kept surrounding him "Jordan, Jordan, Jordan", okay, okay, I shouldn't wear the No. 23 jersey, I shouldn't be at the press conference I'm guilty of provoking Michael Jordan!

Meng Lang believed that this was the so-called "divine punishment"!
  On October 10th, the damn NBA 18~93 preseason games finally arrived.

These reporters were still confused, but Meng Lang no longer had to listen to them chanting "Jordan" in his ears all day long.

That's a good change.

Even though the Orlando fans hated him, the Orlando media questioned him, and Chuck Daly refused to let him into the starting lineup, Meng Lang finally saw good changes before the first insignificant preseason game of the new season.

And this optimistic attitude is really thanks to this fucking life!

NBA preseason games are usually used to examine rookies, so tonight Meng Lang got another good news:

He will start.

Look, life is really getting better, isn't it?

Joining Meng Lang in the starting lineup is Anfernee Hardaway.

Maybe it's Michael Jordan's retirement, or maybe it's Pat Williams' "bad" summer operations that disappointed Orlandoans, well, the biggest possibility:

This is such an insignificant preseason game!
  So there are not many people in Orlando here tonight, only about three to four thousand people.

But some reporters used this incident as an excuse: "Dream, do you think this is your problem?"

It's you who's a ****!

If it weren't for the sword music in his pocket, Meng Lang would have cursed outright. ——Oh, by the way, this is what Meng Lang learned in the "Safety Education Class". As a professional player, you are not allowed to swear in front of the camera.

"I don't know what they think, but not being able to see my game is not my loss, it's their loss!"

Meng Lang wanted to thank the reporter for asking this question, because this success filled him with fighting spirit.

In the first game of the preseason, the Magic faced the Milwaukee Bucks.

According to the plot, they will get the "number one pick" next summer. It is conceivable how poor this team will be this season. In this game, the Bucks head coach arranged a "stinky fish and rotten shrimp" combination with Vin Baker as the core.

Vin Baker will become an NBA All-Star power forward in the future, but now his maturity is far less than that of Hardaway and Meng Lang.

Hardaway's breakthrough pass and Meng Lang's shooting allowed the Magic to take the initiative from the beginning.

After the first quarter, Hardaway had 4 points and 3 assists, and Meng Lang scored 7 points.

Hardaway's playing style is similar to Hill's, so there is no need for Meng Lang to get along with him.

Plug and play.

Watching these two newcomers lead the Magic to a 34-25 score in the first quarter, Chuck Daly suddenly became curious about what kind of destructive power this lineup plus Shaquille O'Neal could create on the offensive end. , the result, you won’t know until you try it, but you will be shocked once you try it.

After Shaquille O'Neal came on the court in the second quarter, the inside line became more intimidating, rebounds were guaranteed, and there were more opportunities for second attacks. The Magic directly launched a 13-2 scoring surge.

Future power forward Vin Baker ended up with dull eyes.

He thought he was ready for the NBA.

In the Bucks' training camp, he also showed good form. Who would have thought of playing in a preseason game, but he directly became Shaquille O'Neal's toy.

At halftime, the Magic's lead expanded to 20 points.

Chuck Daly scratched his cheek in embarrassment under Mike Dunleavy's resentful eyes:
  Sorry, buddy, it's a bit harsh!

All members of the Bucks were so confused that with more than 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Chuck Daly could only replace Meng Lang.

There is no way, the point difference has already widened to more than 30 points.

At the end of the game, Meng Lang played 31 minutes and 34 seconds, scoring 22 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. His shooting percentage once exceeded 50%. In the end, he started to shoot "showy" shots in the fourth quarter, and his shooting percentage just fell below 50%. .

This is one of the reasons why Chuck Daly took them off the field.

If not, Hardaway and Meng Lang would be replaced. They thought the NBA was just like that!
  In the first preseason game, the Magic defeated 107-74 by 33 points.

Hearty.

All the Orlando fans who are here tonight come and leave with a lot of fun.

Just like Meng Lang said, the fans who did not come to the scene tonight are their loss.

The impression of Meng Lang among these thousands of Orlando residents has also changed.

They no longer think it was stupid for Pat Williams to exchange two first-round picks and a second-round pick for Meng Lang.

As long as Meng Lang can bring his preseason performance to the regular season stage.

Even though they all know it's hard!
  But they like Meng Lang’s feeling of shooting against people. Pat Williams was right:

"Meng Lang is different from other pitchers! His shooting is a weapon that can demoralize the opponent!"

But there are 70 people in Orlando, and only a few thousand people came to the scene tonight. The ridicule of the "Orlando Sentinel" continued the next day: "It seems that one summer has not changed the Chinese newcomers. His bad habit is that he is still taking unreasonable shots against people, OK, let’s see how long he can last!”

They believe that under high-intensity defense, Meng Lang's shot selection will definitely become a problem and will definitely disappear in the future!
  《哨兵报》是大部分奥兰多人最信赖的报纸，所以关于孟浪的质疑声仍旧在继续。哪怕接下来5场季前赛，孟浪交出了跟第一场比赛相近的场均18.8分3.4篮板3.2助攻1抢断。

However, the increasingly full attendance at the Orlando Arena cannot fool anyone. The team's winning streak and Meng Lang's performance still aroused the curiosity of some people.

ESPN gave a very scary set of data:

When Meng Lang, Shaquille O'Neal and Hardaway were on the court at the same time, this team won a total of 6 points in 78 preseason games!
  On average, this lineup can win by 13 points per game!
  What a terrible number!
  Even if this happened in the preseason...

"Perhaps, this is indeed the most correct combination!"

Some local newspapers in Orlando have chosen to correct their opinions after admitting their mistakes.

But most of them are still like the "Orlando Sentinel", choosing to be stubborn and not shed tears until they see the regular season.

Meng Lang's mood was not affected by these media. When he regarded this place as Duke, everything became extremely familiar.

"Yes, I have no plans to change my shot selection. As long as I think it is a good shot selection, I will not change the way I do it!"

When faced with these doubts, Meng Lang also gave his tough response in time.

This naturally aroused even more intense ridicule from the Orlando Sentinel.

But Meng Lang had stopped reading their reports long ago.

On October 10, the Orlando Magic ushered in their opening game.

They sit at their home court in Orlando Arena to meet the challenge of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Before the game started, people from the public relations department suddenly came to him in a hurry. Meng Lang frowned slightly: "Didn't I tell you that I won't accept pre-match interviews recently?"

Asked again and again, he was too lazy to answer these questions, so he just talked about his performance on the court.

Then he learned that two reporters from China wanted to interview him.

Meng Lang, of course, has to welcome people from his hometown.

While waiting for the staff of the public relations department to leave and return, Meng Lang also saw the true faces of the two reporters interviewed this time:

Just as he thought, it was Xu Jicheng and the future famous football commentator Zhang Weiping who guided him.

During this time, Director Zhang was studying in the United States, and he usually organized the reception for visitors; and Xu Jicheng's qualifications should be one of the most senior among domestic journalists. In this first interview, except for the two of them, only Su Qun is gone. "Sit anywhere!"

Perhaps because it was their first interview, and because they were not familiar with Meng Lang, they were both a little embarrassed. Meng Lang carelessly moved the chairs in front of Shaquille O'Neal and Hardaway's closet and asked them to sit down.

Zhang Weiping and Xu Jicheng, who noticed this scene, looked at each other.

They are very clear about the outside world's current evaluation of Meng Lang. There is no problem in using the phrase "the storm is about to come, and the wind fills the building". Chuck Daly also stated that Meng Lang will start on the bench in the new season.

With such pressure from public opinion, they originally thought that Meng Lang's current mental state would be similar to that of a drowning person.

But look at his closet, next to Hardaway, opposite O'Neal, and against the locker room door.

They still have some understanding of the "hidden rules" of the NBA locker room.

This proves that Meng Lang's status in the Magic team is not generally high, at least he is the "second boss" and "third boss" of the team.

Isn't there a big gap between the suffocating feeling formed by external public opinion?

They all thought Meng Lang could no longer survive, but they didn't know he was so comfortable.

The two of them were still stunned when Meng Lang started to remind them: "Brothers, the opening hours of the locker room are about to end. If you don't ask, you won't have time later."

With Meng Lang's reminder, they finally remembered that they still had business to do.

The two of them are relatively experienced insiders in this industry in China, but in the NBA, they are out-and-out rookies. It was not difficult to deal with their questions. Meng Lang answered all the questions as sincerely as possible.

Zhang Weiping suddenly asked out of nowhere: "Meng Lang, do you think there are any domestic players who can play in the NBA?"

Meng Lang almost blurted out, Yao Ming.

There's nothing I can do, it's all a muscle reaction.

But think about Yao Ming, who was only 13 years old at this time. How could he be in the NBA?

As for the other players, he really wasn't too familiar with them. Silence was the best answer. Zhang Weiping walked away with his head sullen.

"I think Xiao Meng may not know the domestic players, so he can't tell."

If Meng Lang heard Zhang Weiping's words, he wouldn't be surprised at all. Director Zhang has pride as a member of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team. After all, he was once the captain of the Chinese Men's Basketball Team.

Tonight's Orlando Arena was obviously much more lively than in preseason games, with 8% of the seats filled.

This data is better than last season!

Obviously, 6 wins and 5 loss in 1 preseason games still gave them what they expected.

Probably all fans are the same. No matter how much they say "I won't watch it, I won't watch it, I won't watch it again," but once they get better, they immediately forget their curses and come running around. Supported.

Pat Williams' actions in the summer made them unhappy, but what can be done?
  All I can do is curse and continue watching!
  Oh, no, they can also use boos to express dissatisfaction!
  When the DJ introduced Meng Lang, there was a loud boo.

Shaquille O'Neal was so angry that he wanted to get a loudspeaker to warn them.

what happened?

Haven't I already marked it?
  Is this my "little brother"?

Meng Lang looked at O'Neill's expression of confusion and wanted to say:
  Let's just say, is there a possibility that you haven't tamed them yet.

It’s the same level, just watch the same TV set!

Starters on both sides.

The Magic's starters are: No. [-] Anfernee Hardaway, No. [-] Nick Anderson, No. [-] Denis Scott, No. [-] Jeff Turner, and No. [-] Shaquille O'Neal;
  The Trail Blazers' starters are: No. [-] Terry Burt, No. [-] "Glider" Drexler, No. [-] Harvey Grant, No. [-] Buck Williams, No. [-] Mark - Bryant;

The 91-92 season was the "harvest year" in the history of the Trail Blazers.

Although they failed to win the championship trophy in the end, it was a pity that they lost after 6 fierce battles with the Bulls.

The feeling of reaching the Finals is very sweet, so even though they lost in the first round last year and lost to the Spurs, the Trail Blazers management still believes that the era of this lineup is not over. They snatched it from Washington in the summer. Here comes Harvey Grant, a strong wing player who averages 18.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1 steal per game, and plans to make another run at the Finals.

Michael Jordan's sudden retirement is a good sign in the eyes of the Portland media. In this way, "Glider", the league's recognized "second shooting guard", will become the NBA's current No. [-] shooting guard.

The last "three consecutive championships" were created by the "active first shooting guard". Now it should be reasonable for the new "active first shooting guard" to lead the team to win another "three consecutive championships", right?
  But once the game started, it was the Magic that took the lead.

Shaquille O'Neal has been waiting for this year's "Hardaway Pass" since last year, and it has helped him win free throw opportunities in the paint. It's a pity that O'Neal went to the free throw line and made the classic "two free throws and one", and he was so happy that he waved at Hardaway again and again:
  My, my!
  Although the free throw was missed, the opponent's starting center was fouled less than 20 seconds into the game. In the following time, Shaquille O'Neal had a greater advantage in the paint.

Mark Bryant didn't dare to stretch his hand during the confrontation.

"Shark" scored 10 points in a single quarter, and Hardaway had 3 assists in a single quarter!
  The Magic led by 36 points 31 to 5 in a single quarter.

"Dream, I leave it to you, let's make a bigger difference!"

Hardaway specially high-fived Meng Lang before he came on the court in the second quarter.

Because of the lead, the atmosphere was good, but there were still a few boos directed at Meng Lang.

This shows how much Orlandoans hate Meng Lang now, instigated by the Orlando Sentinel.

Such victims, and later Vince Carter, of course, compared to "UFO", the boos Meng Lang is facing now can only be said to be "little in comparison." That is a hatred that cannot be resolved for more than ten years!

Divided according to an era of 10 years, Toronto's hatred is passed down from generation to generation.

Meng Lang turned his head and glanced at the place where the boos were loudest, gritting his teeth secretly.

Playing with Meng Lang was Scott Scales, who ranked third in assists per game last season. I don’t know if Meng Lang couldn’t compete with Nick Anderson and Scott. He instinctively thought that he and Meng Lang "Weak forces should help weak forces":
  "You just run and I will get the ball to you in time."

Meng Lang nodded and did not rush to move. Instead, he first observed the Trail Blazers' current position on the court:
  2米01的杰罗米-科尔西、1米91的罗德-斯特里克兰以及1米88的詹姆斯-罗宾逊，内线目前在场上的还是马克-布莱恩特以及巴克-威廉姆斯。

The two of them are false starters for the Trail Blazers. Clifford Robinson is the "backbone" of this team and is currently resting off the court.

As long as Meng Lang doesn't rush toward the basket, whether he's facing the 1-meter Rhodes or the 91-meter James Robinson, Meng Lang will have a very good opportunity to take a misplaced shot. After understanding all this, Meng Lang started to move.

Scott Scales had been watching his movement, and when he reached for the ball, he immediately passed the ball over.

It was only when it was passed that he realized that this was not a good opportunity to take action, right?
  Rhodes blocked Meng Lang as soon as he got the ball.

But he didn't know that while Meng Lang got rid of Corsi, he observed the defensive player closest to him. He already knew that Rhodes could defend him in time.

So when he took action, he specifically raised his point of release.

With a height of 2 meters and a wingspan of 03 meters, Meng Lang forced himself to gain shooting space.

Since the beginning of the high school league, he has been very accustomed to taking shots at this rhythm, even if the person he faces now has become an NBA player, without height and wingspan to cover him, the ball...

It’s also true!
  "Shh!"

The sound of the ball falling straight into the basket elicited a low roar from the crowd.

What is "visual enjoyment"!

For those who are accustomed to attacking the basket, Meng Lang's resolute top shot brings a different kind of pleasure.

Good luck?
  Just this shot alone couldn't shut up the Orlando people who had just booed.

The doubts in their eyes were still particularly strong.

only……

"Snapped!"

James Robinson, who was dribbling the ball in the backcourt just past halftime, felt a burst of footsteps behind him. When he turned his head again, the ball in his hand had been taken away.

He still couldn't figure out why Meng Lang was behind him. Shouldn't he have returned to defense?

coming!

"Meng style steal"!
  Chuck Daly has been craving this for a long time.

He didn't see it in the preseason, so he thought Meng Lang wouldn't use this trick anymore.

Now it seems that he just hasn't taken it seriously in the preseason.

Meng Lang took the ball in his hand and originally planned to dribble the ball quickly. His ball control ability has now reached 65 points, which has reached the passing line of the NBA. But Scales rushed past him and thought about it. He still gave the ball to the latter.

This "old-timer" is also really good at hitting the ball on the backboard. He obviously wants Meng Lang to do an "alley-oop dunk". Let's make it clear first, it's not that "alley-oop" can't be hit, it's just that it's better to lay up with the ball. Value for money.

Meng Lang scored 5 points in a row!
  The score difference suddenly expanded to 10 points.

Trail Blazers coach Adelman could only quickly call a timeout.

There was a burst of lively cheers at the scene, and Meng Lang looked towards the side where the boos had just been made.

The result disappointed him:

The Orlando fans who had been booing just now were actually cheering towards him.

No, is it so easy to win?
  That’s only two balls!

Without thinking, Meng Lang made a "finger wagging" motion in their direction:

No, no, you really can’t!

　By the way, some brothers reported that the off-season was too dry, so I stitched up the first few chapters, which resulted in the word count not being enough, but I will code another chapter later, and I won’t waste the rest. , I will continue to update tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, return the remaining 3 chapters, and update two more chapters as compensation.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)