N-A-A Chapter 147 Come on, pour Lin a cappuccino!
Chapter 147 Come on, pour Lin a cappuccino!
Chapter 147 Come on, pour Lin a cappuccino!
The Bulls' tight, collapsing defense made the Bullets' offense very difficult. They couldn't find any good offensive opportunities or methods. The huge deficiencies in their roster left the Bullets with no way to deal with the Bulls' defense!
Strickland and Chaney, two perimeter players with no shooting ability, also tried to attack the basket, hoping to break through the Bulls' defense with their drives. However, four of the five Bulls players on the court were top defensive specialists. Charging into their encirclement was practically suicide.
Even Lin Tian, the only player whose defense wasn't particularly outstanding, possessed incredibly sharp insight and anticipation. He would always appear in the Bullets' passing lanes, making it difficult for Strickland and Chaney to find suitable passing opportunities even when they drove into the paint.
In the first 6 minutes, the Bullets only made 2 of 7 shots and committed 3 turnovers, scoring a total of only 4 points!
On the other hand, the Bulls made 7 of 11 shots and 4 of 4 free throws, scoring 18 points in less than half a quarter!
The Bullets' proud lineup of four tall players was completely overwhelmed by the Bulls in just half a quarter!
What troubles Bullets head coach Bickerstaff even more is that he has virtually no room for adjustment.
The Bulls' defense completely exposed their weaknesses, leaving the Bullets' perimeter completely exposed without even giving them a second glance!
Unless all the Bullets players suddenly learn to shoot a beautiful three-pointer, there's absolutely no way to get out of this situation!
The only thing Bickerstaff could do was bring on Tracy Murray, the team's only somewhat reliable striker, hoping he could change the course of the game.
Murray is accurate, and he's 2 meters tall, but his defense and physicality are nowhere near Chaney's. Otherwise, he wouldn't only be a sixth man on the team.
As soon as Murray entered the game, before he could even receive the ball and shoot a three-pointer, Jordan charged straight at Murray like a great white shark that had smelled blood!
In three consecutive possessions, Jordan backed down his opponent in the low post three times in a row, easily driving to the edge of the three-second zone each time, and then easily turning around and making the shot before the Bullets' help defense could get up!
After three possessions, Murray finally got an open three-point shot.
"Bang!"
What he returned to the head coach was a painful clang of metal hitting the brick.
But the Bullets had no time to grieve, because the rebound from the missed three-pointer bounced far away. Lin Tian, who was near the free-throw line, was already prepared. He leaped high, grabbed the rebound, and launched another lightning-fast counterattack!
Murray and Strickland were chasing him relentlessly, the two of them blocking Lin Tian's left and right sides, making it impossible for him to easily make a move and finish the attack.
But Lin Tian seemed to be completely oblivious to the two of them, keeping his head down as he dribbled the ball and charged forward.
Then, when he arrived at the Bullets' basket, Lin Tian didn't stop at all, not even bothering to look back. He simply dribbled the ball behind him with a crossover dribble, and the basketball flew towards the free-throw line.
Without even looking, Jordan had already followed up, grabbed the basketball, and launched a one-handed gliding dunk!
8: 0!
After the Bulls made a substitution, the Bulls went on an 8-0 run!
26: 4!
With just over half of the first quarter gone, the Bulls extended their lead to an unbelievable 22 points!
Then, Jackson made a flamboyant gesture, sending Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman off the court for a rest, while Kerr, Harper, and Kukoc took to the court.
The Bulls' new roster finally lacked the intense pressure and aggression on the defensive end, and they no longer had Jordan as an almost invincible one-on-one finisher.
In this situation, the Bullets finally regained some offensive rhythm and started scoring.
However, the three new players were all excellent shooters. With Lin Tian's playmaking and the team's fast-paced, all-out running, their offensive efficiency was no less than in the first half of the quarter. Even though the Bullets started to score, the gap between the two sides did not narrow at all; on the contrary, it continued to widen!
39: 14!
The score difference reached 25 points at the end of the first quarter! The Bulls even scored a terrifying 39 points in the quarter alone!
Even so, this was despite the Bulls' Big Three only playing half of the first quarter and the Bullets' four key players playing almost the entire quarter!
In the second quarter, when the Bullets' starters and core players had to rest, and the Bulls' Big Three started to dominate the Bullets' bench, the suspense of the game was basically over.
74: 30!
By the end of the first half, the score had reached an unbelievably exaggerated state.
The Bulls' highly targeted defense completely stifled all of the Bulls' offensive strategies. At the same time, their fast, concise, and highly targeted offensive strategies left the Bulls overwhelmed and unable to retaliate.
With such a huge point difference, the entire second half of the game naturally became garbage time. Before the third quarter was even halfway through, when the point difference reached 45 points, Jackson substituted all of his starters and called it a day!
Then, a few minutes later, when the Bullets narrowed the gap to within 40 points, Bickerstaff stopped being stubborn and substituted his key players off the court.
Playing too many of these kinds of games can easily create psychological trauma for the players. There's no need to make them waste their energy on the court. Rather than letting them play in despair, it's better to let them off the court and think carefully about how to deal with the Bulls' tight defense and targeted strategies in the next game.
Even if Bickerstaff can't solve the Bulls' tight defense due to roster issues, he still needs to think carefully about how to stop the Bulls' offense!
If we can't score, then you can't score either!
At that moment, the camera precisely panned to the Bullets' bench, starting with head coach Bickerstaff and then to key players like Webber and Howard.
On each person's face, there were either blank stares, mouths slightly agape, looking bewildered and at a loss, or eyes fixed on the ground, motionless, as if they had been utterly terrified.
At this moment, when you think back to how the Bullets were all so eager and confident before the game, the contrast is just too stark!
The gap between the two sides is simply too large!
The Bulls proved one thing in just the first half of the game!
That means we aim for 70 wins because there's no need to aim for 80; maintaining our position as number one in the league is sufficient.
Your 44 wins are the result of your best efforts; that's all the wins you could achieve.
The gap between the two sides is obvious!
Ultimately, the first game of the series ended with a score of 124-80, and that was with the Bulls only playing seriously for two and a half quarters. If the Bulls had maintained the intensity they showed in the first half of the first quarter for the entire game, they probably could have won by 6-70 points tonight!
全场比赛，乔丹只打了20分钟，就拿下27分5篮板2助攻的漂亮数据，林天出战21分钟，拿下13分13次助攻3次抢断，皮蓬也只打了22分钟，拿下11分5篮板4助攻的全面数据。
With Kerr, Kukoc, Harper, and Longley all scoring in double figures, the Bulls had seven players in double figures, playing with incredible ease!
At the post-game press conference, Bickerstaff seemed at a loss when faced with reporters' questions. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said without much confidence, "They are the defending champions. They have won four championships in the past six years. They have won 70 games in two consecutive years. They are very strong."
"We made very thorough preparations for the match beforehand, and we also did a lot of assessment and mental preparation for how difficult the match would be. We were even prepared to return to our home ground trailing 0-2, but... but we..."
Seeing Bibikerstaf's hesitant expression on the stage, a reporter couldn't help but interject, "But you still didn't expect the competition to be this difficult, and the gap in strength between you and them to be so large, right?"
Bickerstaff looked at the reporter, and the reporters below the stage also looked at Bickerstaff. At that moment, both sides fell into an incredibly strange silence and harmony.
Then, after about half a minute, Bickerstaff didn't get any help or an excuse. Helpless, he could only nod and say, "Yes, we underestimated the Bulls."
Upon hearing this, the reporters below were in an uproar. Although they had asked the question with the mindset of watching a good show and not being afraid of making things worse, they really did not expect that Bickerstaff would actually admit defeat so readily.
Originally, they thought that Bickerstaff, in order to boost the team's morale and confidence for the upcoming games, would at least stick his neck out and say tough things like "the game isn't over yet," "we haven't lost yet," and "see you in Washington."
The results of it?
They only played one game in the series, and they were completely outmatched. Were they so cowardly that they didn't even dare to say anything tough?
Bickerstaff's outright admission of defeat left the seasoned reporters speechless; they had never seen anything like it before! For a moment, the reporters were at a loss for words.
The reporters' bewildered glances only served to illustrate the Bulls' strength and terror.
The Bulls have become so powerful that they can not only eliminate the suspense and resistance of the entire series in one game, but also leave the reporters speechless.
At the very least, the questions the reporters had prepared beforehand, such as what you're going to do in the next game, how you feel about the crushing defeat, how you're going to turn things around, and whether you're confident of advancing, were all left unasked.
How can I even ask? They've already been thoroughly humiliated.
Bickerstaff's mentality is exactly the mentality of the entire Bullets team right now. The whole team is in a daze, from the coach to the starters to the role players, none of them have the fighting spirit.
Bickerstaff even canceled the practice session that was scheduled between the two away games in Chicago.
He felt that before he found a suitable way to deal with the Bulls, any training would only make the team's morale more scattered. Rather than forcing all the players to train together, it would be better to let them have some fun. Maybe they could find some new fighting spirit in alcohol and fun!
"They're not practicing anymore?" The Bulls players, who were training in their own gym, all laughed when they heard the news.
They really didn't expect that the team with such a tough name would have such a soft mentality.
There's really not a single one who can fight!
"They're not practicing, but the arena can't be left empty," Jordan said, chewing gum. "We'll practice at their hotel! Right under their noses! A bunch of wimps, I'm going to completely destroy their fighting spirit before the second game even starts!"
"Coach, what do you think?"
Jackson looked at the group of people, eager to try and looking like they were about to cause trouble, and said with a smile, "We can only do this in Chicago. In other places, we might suffer losses."
After Jackson said that, the Bulls' troublemakers were no longer going to hold back. Without even changing their clothes, they went back to the locker room to get their things, then boarded the team bus and headed straight for the Bullets' hotel!
Even Rodman, who had initially said he had a headache and missed today's training, drove straight to the hotel without a second thought after hearing that he could stir up trouble. When there's excitement to watch and trouble to be had, "The Worm" is never absent.
Since it's in Chicago, the Bulls have unlimited privileges. Normally, whether it's the playoffs or the regular season, the league and the hotel would never allow such blatant provocation, nor would they allow players from one team to train at the opponent's hotel.
Who knows what will happen when two groups of muscular, hot-blooded athletes get together?
But what can you do when this is Chicago?
When the hotel manager heard that the Bulls were coming to practice, he didn't care whether their ridiculous excuse, "Our training facility is leaking today, so we need to borrow your facility," was plausible. He also didn't care that Chicago was sunny and the temperature was 33 degrees Celsius. Without a second thought, he opened the door wide and led the entire Bulls team into the hotel.
Meanwhile, this manager was clearly a cunning old fox. Not only did he personally lead the Bulls players to the training ground, but he also assigned more than a dozen waiters to inquire with the Bullets whether the training ground was still available today.
If we don't use it, then we'll have to give it to the Bulls.
Why send so many people to do something so simple?
The Bullets team had about 30 people staying at the hotel this time! If the hotel hadn't been short-staffed, the manager would have even sent 20 more people to knock on each door, one by one, to avoid accidentally missing any player's or assistant coach's door.
If you're going to provoke, if you're going to demonstrate, then you have to do it thoroughly!
Lin Tian looked at the manager with an air of instant camaraderie, putting his arm around the manager's shoulder and saying, "Hey buddy, what's your name? You've got potential!"
"Billy! Just call me Billy Lin! If you need anything, feel free to contact me anytime, anything!" Billy grinned and handed over his business card, saying, "I'm very professional!"
"I'll remember you! From now on, we're friends!" Lin Tian patted Billy on the shoulder and put his business card away.
Lin Tian felt that he would definitely need this guy in the future, since he was such a savvy and trouble-making service worker!
Just then, Billy's walkie-talkie suddenly crackled to life. Billy chuckled and said, "Lin, Michael, the good news is we've knocked on the doors of all the bullet team members. Everyone still in the hotel has received our notification. As for whether they'll come down, I'll keep you updated."
"Our staff also said that there seemed to be someone training in the training hall right now, but my men glanced at it and didn't recognize who it was. I think he's most likely not from the Bullet Team!"
"You're so sensible!" Lin Tian patted Billy on the shoulder again.
He thought Billy was really savvy!
This "most likely" phrase wasn't used very cleverly by someone from the Bullet Team during training!
At this hour, in this training facility that the Bullets team has already booked, who else could he be but a member of the Bullets team? Is he some old man from downstairs who wandered over for a stroll and came here to pick up a few players for a casual game of pickup basketball?
That's bullshit!
If someone else were to ask the person practicing if they were a Bullets player, and then tell the Bulls that someone was practicing, then the Bulls would be in serious trouble.
If the league investigates later about the Bulls provoking the Bullets on their home turf, the Bulls won't be able to explain themselves.
But now, the Bulls are going to a training facility that doesn't have any Bullets players!
Even if it happens, it's just a chance encounter!
Yes, it was a chance encounter!
Feeling that Billy was sensible and understanding, Lin Tian took out two Franklin bills from his pocket and stuffed them into Billy's pocket, saying, "You go ahead and get busy."
"You guys won't..." Billy frowned, looking at the dozen or so burly men. After all, they were his staff. They could start a fight, but if a conflict or even a fight broke out on his turf, he would be in trouble.
"Don't worry, we're here to train. What bad things could we possibly do?" Jordan chuckled, pulling four Franklin bills from his pocket. He gave Lin Tian a provocative look before adding, "We're just here to play basketball!"
Having made a fortune, Billy didn't say much more. After bowing and scraping and handing out business cards to everyone, he quickly disappeared.
"Want to make a bet and see who's training in this gym?" Jordan's gambling instincts kicked in immediately. Looking at everyone on the team, he said, "I bet $200 that it's Chris Webber."
"Webber would actually train at this time? With his lazy, unambitious personality?" Rodman scoffed. "I bet 200 it's Howard."
"If Howard were to work overtime, I'd cut my head off right now and let you guys kick it around!" Pippen scoffed. "He's just here to work. Outside of work hours, you'd never see him touch a basketball! I bet that guy's sleeping right now! I bet 200, it's Strickland!"
Then, Cole, Longley, Kukoc, and others placed their bets on several Bullets players, each giving their reasons.
"I'll bet 200!" Lin Tian said casually, seeing everyone looking at him. "The people training inside aren't any of the ones you just mentioned! If I win, I'll wipe you all out!"
"Do you know who's training inside?" Jordan looked at Lin Tian, suspecting that Lin Tian had some inside information.
"Michael, Michael," Lin Tian shrugged, "You don't know me at all. I never cheat when I gamble! After all, I can beat you all even without cheating. If I did cheat, would you even survive? You'd have to give me half of your annual salary upfront!"
"Alright!" Jordan's gambling instincts were completely ignited by Lin Tian, and he completely forgot his vow last year never to gamble with Lin Tian: "I'll double it again! If it's not any of the people we just mentioned, all the bets here are yours, and I'll double it again for you! But if one of us is right..."
"Just like you, I'll pay you double!" Lin Tian accepted Jordan's bet without hesitation.
Jordan immediately got excited! The bets they placed just now included more than half of the Bullets' players! In Jordan's eyes, it was a sure win—a dragon charging in, a guaranteed victory!
If I lose this, I'll never gamble with Lin Tian again, not even for a single penny!
This time, even though the stakes were only a few thousand dollars, Jordan felt that it was finally time for him to finally hold his head high and beat Lin Tian!
"Steve, go get Lin a coffee, a cappuccino!" Jordan was beaming with pride, just waiting to push open the training door and give Lin a good beating: "Lin, you think you can beat me today? You think you can crush me? If you can beat me, Jordan, in this situation, I'll eat this basketball right now!"
Jordan was full of confidence. He pushed open the door of the training hall and heard the sound of dribbling a ball coming from inside. He was waiting to see who on the Bullets team was secretly practicing, and then he would make a good mocking remark to Lin Tian.
As the Bulls arrived, the guy who was practicing turned around and glanced at the Bulls... and suddenly froze.
What's going on? So many people? And they're all from the Bulls?
Standing at just over 2 meters tall, with explosive muscles all over his body, a buzz cut, and a face that looked rather silly and not very intelligent, Jordan was stunned for a moment.
No, bro, who are you?
Jordan didn't recognize the person at first and turned to look at his teammates.
He wanted to see if anyone recognized this person, and if anyone had bet that this guy was training at the gym.
A hush fell over the entire team, everyone was stunned. All the players on the Bulls team wore the same expressions and had the same thoughts as Jordan.
No, bro, who are you?
Moreover, not only the players, but also the assistant coaches like Clemens, the team doctor, and the team's trainers, who had come with the team fearing that the players would cause trouble, were all completely bewildered.
I don't know him!
I don't know it at all!
That's it, nobody knows him, so what's the point of betting? If nobody knows him, who's going to bet on this guy?
Thinking of this, Jordan turned his gaze to Lin Tian.
Then Lin Tian shook his head: "Don't look at me, I don't know him either."
Upon hearing this, Jordan perked up again: "Maybe this guy isn't even a Bullets player! What player doesn't have an assistant coach accompanying them for extra practice? If he's not a Bullets player, then this is a tie!"
Jordan held onto a last glimmer of hope.
Even if we don't achieve a resounding victory, a draw is still a record-breaking achievement! If we draw this time, we'll beat them next time! Let's take it one step at a time, steadily!
Jordan's words were actually a bit shameless; there wasn't such an additional condition when they made the bet.
Lin Tian, however, didn't care about this.
He genuinely didn't recognize who this guy was, but judging from those hard muscles and the standard physique of a basketball player, who would believe this guy wasn't a professional basketball player!
Lin Tian was certain that this guy was definitely a member of the Bullet Team. As for why no one recognized him?
It's actually quite easy to understand: according to the rules, the maximum number of players per team in the regular season is 12+3.
In other words, a team can sign 15 players, but only 12 can play in each game. The other three players are the team's reserve force, responsible for filling in the gaps when the team is injured, suspended, or otherwise unforeseen.
If they encounter bad luck, those three reserve players might only be able to serve as practice partners for the entire season. They won't get many opportunities to play, let alone sit on the bench in training clothes. Most of the time, they will be wearing suits and sitting at the back of the bench.
Therefore, it is perfectly normal for a team to have several players that no one recognizes, not even the video analysts and coaching staff of other teams!
After all, they might not get any playing time for an entire season.
Jordan swaggered over to the lone, unnamed player, chatted with him for a bit, and then walked back dejectedly.
"Fuck! This bastard actually is a player for the Bullets, but he wasn't on the active roster for the playoffs, damn it! He wasn't even on the active roster, so he can't even play. What the hell is he practicing here for? He made me lose money! All of you come over here and give the money to Lin. Let's see how much you have. I don't have enough cash. I'll give it to you before the game tomorrow!"
The Bulls players immediately started pulling out money and calculating, and in less than two minutes, they handed Lin Tian a thick wad of US dollars. Lin Tian glanced at it and saw that it was about $3000. If you add Jordan's double, he could easily make another $6000 just by talking!
Gambling is way faster at making money than playing sports!
However, when Lin Tian looked at the guy who had turned around and started training again, he suddenly felt that he was somewhat familiar.
Especially looking at his clumsy footwork, terrible finishing under the basket, and awkward shooting form, Lin Tian felt more and more familiar with him.
"What are you looking at?" Rodman came over and watched the player's training footage with Lin Tian for a couple of seconds. He immediately shook his head and said, "This is terrible. His offensive level is probably not even as good as mine! What a waste of those muscles. He's this bad in training. No wonder he can't make the team's active roster."
Even worse offensively than you? All muscle?
Lin Tian frowned, then suddenly remembered who this person was!
The future "Big Ben" Ben Wallace!
A guy who went undrafted in the 1996 NBA draft, then signed a one-year minimum contract with the Bullets as an undrafted player, and finally managed to make it into the NBA.
However, Wallace at this point has not yet shown the strength that would later make him a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, a five-time All-Defensive First Team selection, and a five-time All-NBA selection. He is just a super role player who only played 34 games throughout the season, averaging only 5.8 minutes of playing time, and averaging only 1 point and 1 rebound per game!
There are countless players of this caliber both inside and outside the league, but it's only natural that nobody knows him. After all, no one would waste their energy on a player who barely gets any playing time.
Moreover, it's not fair to say that Lin Tian didn't recognize this guy at first.
You've given up your signature afro, and you don't even wear a jersey with your name on it. Who would recognize you?
Moreover, the current Wallace has none of the domineering and ruthless aura that he would later dominate the court. Instead, he looks rather silly. Who could associate him with the league's top blue-collar player who would later battle O'Neal and Duncan in the Finals?
However, it's in line with his personality that this guy goes out to practice alone when the rest of the team isn't training.
Without his determination to train hard, Wallace could never have become the toughest and most terrifying defensive player in the league at his height!
After all, this guy is supposed to be 206 centimeters tall, but Lin Tian thinks that's the height after adding at least 5 centimeters of his afro. With his buzz cut now, he was about the same height as Jordan when they stood together!
This guy's real height is most likely no more than 2 meters!
"What are you looking at, Lin? It's time for the group sparring, aren't you coming?" Rodman asked Lin Tian when he saw him still watching Wallace practice alone.
"I'm watching to see who's taller between you two."
"Of course it's me." Rodman glanced at Wallace and said impatiently, "I'm 206 centimeters tall, this kid is about the same height as Michael, maybe 2 meters at most! I'm a head taller than him!"
"Then do you dare to stand next to him and compare heights?" Lin Tian couldn't help but complain, looking at Rodman, who was only 7-8 centimeters taller than him.
This shameless scoundrel is blatantly lying!
"Height is meaningless. Whether it's 198cm or 206cm, what matters is that the rebounds are always in my hands. What's the use of those numbers? Won't you shrink when you're 50? Won't you be buried in the ground when you're 80? Besides using more wood for your coffin, what's the use of growing a few centimeters taller?"
"Superficial! So superficial! Lin, you've disappointed me greatly!"
After Rodman finished speaking, he didn't even look at Lin Tian and ran away as fast as he could.
Good guy!
Looking at Rodman's shameless back, Lin Tian wished he could just give him a thumbs up.
How could he possibly utter such philosophical words in order to conceal his height?
Truly shameless!
Next, the Bulls split into five teams and played half-court 4v4 games.
However, after playing a few rounds with some difficulty, the group got a little bored.
They came to cause trouble, but the Bullet Team was a complete coward; not a single one of them stepped forward to take the challenge!
He's just a role player among role players, not even qualified to be guarded by the water bench. He can only sit behind the water bench and be guarded by it while he practices. There's no point in mocking him.
After playing for a while, Jordan, feeling bored, couldn't resist and walked over to Wallace, saying, "Kid, wanna play one-on-one?"
"Anything is fine." Wallace looked at Jordan, showing no sign of backing down!
His expression didn't change at all; at the very least, he seemed completely unafraid of Jordan!
"Come on! Let's score 21 points first! I'll let you serve first!"
After Jordan finished speaking, he walked to the free-throw line and passed the ball to Wallace.
The Bulls players immediately gathered around, eager to see how the match would turn out.
Although no one knew Wallace, just seeing this guy accept Jordan's challenge without hesitation, and then prepare to serve with a fierce and menacing expression, everyone thought: This guy is definitely not someone to mess with!
Everyone felt a surge of anticipation! After all, the Bulls had a guy who was once unknown but wasn't afraid of Jordan at all—Lin Tian!
Although Lin Tian played one-on-one with Jordan for two whole years and was defeated for two years, his progress was very obvious. At the same time, the strength he showed in training and one-on-one games had long convinced the Bulls players!
Could this crew-cut kid be the next Lin Tian?
"Snapped!"
Before the Bulls players could finish their reverie, Wallace lost the ball.
It was Jordan who stole it.
This guy had just backed down Jordan, trying to drive straight in from the top of the key, but he used too much force while dribbling, and the basketball hit his foot and went out of bounds.
And then...
This was Wallace's only offensive opportunity in the first round of one-on-one combat.
21: 0!
The food was so bad it was outrageous.
Jordan was so bad at the game that he felt a little embarrassed; he thought the guy was completely defenseless.
"Want to play another round? I'll let you win this time, let's switch!" Jordan, who hadn't had enough of beating him, thought for a moment and suggested a one-on-one match. He thought that maybe this guy wasn't good at defense, but better at offense. Maybe he was just too nervous when he failed to score on the first offense?
then……
21: 0!
Even with a change of starters, Wallace showed no resistance whatsoever, getting thrashed by Jordan like butter, another 21-0 score!
By this point, the Bulls players were starting to lose their composure.
With this level of skill, after eating only a few dishes, he dares to accept a one-on-one challenge from Jordan?
Jordan got so bored he stopped trash-talking...
How do I describe this feeling?
When you're fighting a primary school student one-on-one, you'd probably be too embarrassed to trash talk, right?
"What a waste of all that muscle." Rodman shook his head, stood up and started packing his things. He felt there was no fun to be had today and didn't want to waste any more time.
"Dennis, I think he has a chance," Lin Tian suddenly called out to Rodman. "He could follow the same path as you! If you're willing to train him specially, maybe he could become the league's second Rodman?"
"The second Rodman?" Rodman turned around, glanced at Wallace, and then decisively shook his head, saying, "His physique is good enough, but I'll pass on the special training. I'd rather sleep with a few more Hollywood girls than waste my time with him. Let's go, see you at the game tomorrow."
Rodman waved his hand, turned around and left.
Following Rodman's departure, the rest of the Bulls players began packing their things and left one by one.
When Wennington had finally finished packing, he looked at Lin Tian and said, "Lin, aren't you leaving? We came by bus."
"You guys go ahead, I want to play a little longer." Lin Tian waved his hand, he had an idea in his mind.
"Then can you tell me how you know that none of the people we just mentioned are among the people the Bullet Team is training here?" Wen Ning rolled his eyes and still asked the question.
"I don't know, I'm just guessing," Lin Tian shrugged.
"Impossible. I know you better than anyone, Lin. If you weren't confident, you wouldn't have gambled with them." Wennington shrugged, indicating that he should stop talking nonsense.
"Alright, alright," Lin Tian sighed. "Remember that hotel manager, Billy? He's clearly a hardcore NBA fan. He knows us inside and out, so he probably knows the Bullets players very well too! Therefore, the guys he sent to check if the Bullets were practicing were probably fans as well! Or rather, for hotel staff, a job that lets them get up close and personal with NBA players is definitely something fans would fight over!"
"So when this person saw someone training, he might say something like, 'Is it Webber, Howard, Strickland, or someone else training?' But we all heard it on the walkie-talkie; he didn't say that."
"That means he most likely doesn't know the player who is training. So the answer is obvious: either the person training isn't a player from the Bullets, or it's just some nobody who's playing a minor role."
"Of course, it's also possible that I'm completely wrong. For example, Billy only knows people from the Bulls, and he's just doing it for work and doesn't actually like basketball; or the person he sent was a very honest guy who didn't do anything unnecessary; or maybe he just randomly sent someone to the arena to see if anyone was there."
"But I think it's worth taking the gamble. My chances of winning are pretty high, aren't they?"
Lin Tian wasn't sure if Wennington understood his analysis, but Wennington did nod, leaving with the comment: "Michael's right, unless you have so much money you don't know what to do with it, never gamble with you!"
Then, he hurriedly left the stadium.
Lin Tian ignored the departing Wennington and continued to stare at Wallace, who was practicing the most basic turnaround hook shot under the basket, but whose accuracy was simply abysmal.
"You shouldn't be practicing this. Haven't you realized that you have absolutely no talent on the offensive end?" Lin Tian finally couldn't help but speak up after watching Wallace once again use his clumsy back-to-the-basket footwork, then make a series of unbelievable feints at the air before turning around and missing a shot.
"I don't need you to tell me what to do." Wallace glanced at Lin Tian, said nothing more, and continued to practice his back-to-the-back technique.
"You signed a one-year contract with the Bullets, right? With your current skill level, why do you think they'd re-sign you next season? And why would you expect to find another job and survive in the NBA? Or are you just a lazy bum, only thinking about the present?"
"With all that muscle, you can make a living off your basic salary for a year, and then when you can't anymore, you'll retire and become a high school or college coach. Is that what you're thinking?"
"I'm not the kind of person who just loafs around!" Wallace was clearly enraged by Lin Tian. He glared at Lin Tian and said, "I work harder than anyone else on our team! I'm always the first to arrive and the last to leave for practice! I... I just need a chance!"
"A chance to put you on the court, then have you use those ridiculous footwork to miss shots and prove you're really no good?" Lin Tian wasn't going to give Wallace any face and continued to mock him.
"What exactly do you mean?!" Wallace glared at Lin Tian, angrily shouting, "Are you just here to discourage me, to tell me I can't play in the NBA, and to tell me to quickly find another job? Is that it? Let me tell you, countless people have said this to me! But I won't give up! I know I can play well!"
(End of this chapter)