Chapter 196 The Body of God, Superman Meng Jin

《Breaking News! Michael Jordan Retires! 》

“Michael Jordan retires, where should the Chicago Bulls go from here?”

“All-Star Game, Michael Jordan’s farewell game!”

“Jordan retires, Meng Jin will take sole control of the Bulls”

The next day, the news about Jordan’s retirement was everywhere. In addition to being concerned about Jordan’s retirement, media reporters were also concerned about the Bulls after Jordan’s departure. Without Jordan, Meng Jin was undoubtedly the leader of the team. Most people believed that Meng Jin’s data would further increase, especially in scoring.

Bob Green, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, wrote: Losing Jordan is a heartbreaking thing for all Bulls fans, but we are not left with nothing. We still have Meng, who will carry the team forward. After Jordan leaves, he will have more shots and a more important tactical position. I am looking forward to his performance in the next game, and I believe all fans are the same.

Bob Verdi, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, wrote: Although it may be a bit offensive to Michael to say this, I still want to speak my mind. Michael Jordan’s departure will remove the seal on Meng Jin. Yes, you read that right, it is a seal. For a long time in the past, the Bulls’ tactics have been to let Meng control the team’s firing rights in the first quarter, and Jordan controlled the team’s firing rights in the third quarter. But after Michael Jordan leaves, Meng Jin will be unrestricted. We will soon see a truly full-fire Meng in the game. I have said before that Meng has the scoring explosiveness of Wilt Chamberlain. Let us wait and see.

Bob Welty is a well-known Mengbu player, and the nickname “The Answer” was given by him.

If Meng Jin has loyal fans, he must have haters. Peric-Murray, a columnist for the Boston Sports Daily, wrote: Michael Jordan is gone, and it’s not just him, he also took with him a part of the Bulls’ spirit and ideas. This Bulls team is incomplete. Meng has never proved his ability to lead a team alone. He currently has two scoring titles, both of which have a close relationship with Jordan. Meng Jin’s scoring titles are inseparable from Jordan’s passes and Jordan’s firepower. So I think Meng Jin’s data will decline after Jordan leaves, and the Bulls will quickly lose competitiveness and fall out of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The day after Jordan announced his retirement, Meng Jin received a big gift package as a system reward.

[Rise Up]: As we all know, the current Bulls are Jordan’s team, but it can’t always be Jordan’s team. Rise up and overthrow the tyranny! There are many ways to drive Jordan off the throne. This is undoubtedly the most difficult path, but the rewards are also the most generous! Completion difficulty: five stars, current completion progress: 110% (Note: Since this path is difficult, the system will give you a reward for every 10% progress, but when the completion reaches 100%, you will receive a mysterious gift package, a gift package you can’t resist.)
Mysterious gift pack [Body of God]: All your attributes related to physical talent will be improved to a certain extent.

These few short words revealed his abnormality. Meng Jin’s best quality now is his physical fitness. His current physical fitness combined with his height is at least 30 years ahead of his contemporaries. He couldn’t imagine if he could improve further. He felt that the system was intentionally training him to become a superman.

【Name: Meng Jin】

【Date of Birth: 1967.12.12】

【Height: 213CM】

[Weight: 114 kg]

【Arm span: 228CM】

Layups: 90 (90)

Close shots: 83 (83)

CPG: 94 (94)

Long shots: 45 (45)

Speed: 99 (99)

Strength: 99 (99)

Post-up: 75 (75)

Positions: 72 (75)

Coordination: 93 (99)

Steals: 82 (82)

Rebounds: 90 (90)

Bounce: 99 (99)

Passes: 65 (68)

Possession: 92 (92)

Blocked shots: 93 (93)

Physical Fitness: 99 (99)

Star skills: [Boxing champion reborn], [Basic ball control], [Ten sprays per second], [Aerial interception (advanced)], [Meng Jinbu (advanced)], [Heart of steel], [Strange hand thief (advanced)], [Dry pull-up jump shot (advanced)], [Injury immunity (passive)], [Fade-away jump shot (intermediate)], [Golden finger], [Confusing change of direction (advanced)], [Left-right balance]

【Body of God】

With the bonus of [Body of God], Meng Jin found that his [Speed], [Strength], [Bounce], and [Physical Strength] all reached 99. Meng Jin only knew that 99 was the MAX attribute at this stage, and had no idea about the 99 score.

The next day, before the team training began, Grant played the high-reaching game with his teammates.

It is hard to say what happened after Jordan left the team, but the atmosphere in the Bulls team improved a lot, and many players had long-lost smiles on their faces. Jordan is a well-known pressure monster in the league. It is undeniable that a leader like him can force some passive players to improve and even surpass their limits, but there are also many players who have suffered psychological breakdowns due to him.

Meng Jin was a little late today. When he arrived at the stadium, the Bulls players were putting stickers on the backboard.

“You bunch of rookies, no one can reach higher than me!” Grant grinned.

At this time, John Paxson said: “Here comes someone who can jump higher than you.”

All eyes turned towards the door. Cartwright and Hodges dragged Meng Jin to the basket from the left and right. Everyone knew that Meng Jin jumped very high, but no one knew how high he jumped exactly.

Cartwright stuffed the sticker into Meng Jin’s hand and said, “Come on, Meng, show us your skills and break down the confidence of that guy Horace Grant.”

Meng Jin shook his head. He felt a little bored, but he couldn’t resist the cheering of his teammates.

Amid the crowd’s cheers, Meng Jin jumped lightly on the spot.

After landing, all the laughter disappeared and everyone was cursing.

“Shit! Is this the height of a human?”

“I almost touched the top of the backboard when I jumped from the spot!” “How did you do that?”

“Meng! You have to run and jump once!”

“Come on, put the stickers on the top of the backboard!”

Meng Jin himself was also surprised. His jump felt very light and the height was much higher than before.

Meng Jin looked around and said, “Give me a coin.”

No one knew what Meng Jin wanted to do, but his teammates did as he was told. Someone took out a $1 coin from his trouser pocket and put it in Meng Jin’s hand.

Everyone made way for him and watched Meng Jin run and jump. More than a dozen pairs of eyes stared at Meng Jin as he took off and then watched him put the coin on the top of the backboard!
Many years later, Grant was asked this question when he participated in the THE-JUMP podcast.

Grant sat up straight on the sofa, then cleared his throat and said, “Now many people are saying that Meng can touch the top of the backboard. Some even say that he can touch the top of the backboard after ten consecutive jumps. I want to clarify here that it is not about touching the top of the backboard, but about putting a coin on the top of the backboard with ease and with extra strength!”

The host asked: “Really? Are you telling the truth? Did you see this with your own eyes or is it a show effect?”

Grant shook his head. “I’m not the kind of person who brags. I only tell the truth. I still remember that was the first training session after the 91 All-Star Game. Everyone was bored and was doing high jump. Then Meng walked in. He looked at us and shook his head. Then he took out a coin from somewhere and put it on the top of the backboard. The whole process was very easy for Meng, and he didn’t even warm up. Can you imagine? After landing, he said casually, ‘Whoever can take the coin down, I will buy him a hamburger.’ Who the hell can do that!”

The host covered his head and laughed: “I believe you, I believe you are telling the truth, because your description is so detailed!”

Grant said: “Of course I was telling the truth! At least a dozen Bulls players saw it. After that day, my teammates and I never mentioned playing the high-reaching game again. It was too damn hurtful!”

A day later, the Bulls continued their regular season journey. Their opponent was the Atlanta Hawks. For Meng Jin and the Bulls, the Hawks are an old rival. The Bulls play against the Hawks five games every season.

Before the game started, Coach Bach approached Meng Jin and said earnestly: “Meng, although you are already amazing, there is a higher-dimensional you out there, waiting for you to ‘become’.”

Bach’s encouragement was so deliberate that Meng Jin could easily see his nervousness.

After Jordan left, Meng Jin needed to prove himself, and so did Coach Bach.

Meng Jin jokingly asked: “Do I need to give up the shooting right in the third quarter of this game?”

In the last two years of Meng Jin and Jordan’s partnership, one of them usually served as the main attacker in the first quarter and the other served as the main attacker in the third quarter. This has become a default thing, and the coach will not even emphasize it in the pre-match arrangements.

“Can I have unlimited firing rights?” Meng Jin continued to ask.

“Of course, unleash your damn offensive talent!” Bach patted Meng Jin’s back hard.

“Okay, coach, I’m going to win this, for me, for us.”

Meng Jin must win this game. This is the Bulls’ first game after Jordan left. Everyone is paying attention to the Bulls and Meng Jin’s performance. If they lose, the Bulls will face great pressure.

The game started, Cartwright won the jump ball and the Bulls attacked first.

The Hawks’ entire attention is on Meng Jin. Now the Bulls are basically playing an open game with their opponents. There is no need to think or know that all their attacks must be initiated from Meng Jin.

Meng Jin ran from the baseline without the ball, then went around to the weak side to receive the ball. The current league rules do not allow double-teaming on the weak side without the ball, but the moment Meng Jin received the ball, the Hawks’ double-team came immediately.

Before the game started, head coach Bob Weiss wrote a 2 and then a 3 on the tactical board, meaning that Meng Jin would be double-teamed in every offensive round, and triple-teamed when necessary.

Meng Jin had never received such treatment before. After all, with Jordan by his side, other teams did not dare to double-team him unscrupulously.

In the first round, Meng Jin chose to pass the ball under double-teaming, and Cliff Levingston missed his open mid-range shot.

In the first few rounds, the Hawks’ double-team was very fierce, and it was the kind of very decisive 2-3 person double-team, but this did not pose a problem for Meng Jin. After adapting for 3 minutes, he found the rhythm of the game.

About 3 minutes into the game, Meng Jin scored the first point.

After receiving the ball at the top of the arc, Meng Jin set up a pick-and-roll, took one dribble and made a two-point shot.

In the next few rounds, Meng Jin received the ball outside the three-point line, trying to avoid receiving the ball in the low post and not giving the Hawks a chance to double-team him.

Meng Jin played very simply at the beginning, with breakthrough points or mid-range shots. He did not start with a slam dunk as the fans expected. Meng Jin now has to allocate his energy reasonably because Jordan is gone. He is the team’s main attacking point for all four quarters, and if necessary, he may need to play the whole game.

However, Meng Jin would not keep the game so boring all the time. This was not his style. With 2 minutes left in the first quarter, the Bulls took advantage of the Hawks’ missed shot to launch a quick counterattack.

After receiving the ball outside the three-point line, Meng Jin did not dribble, but started directly, and used the European step.

In his first step, Meng Jin kicked the ball high over Dominique Wilkins’ head, and in his second step, he stepped directly into the free throw line.

What’s outrageous is that Meng Jin didn’t just jump into the penalty area, he also dunked!
His freak-like physical fitness immediately ignited the whole audience. The on-site commentator Johnny Cole shook his head and said: “The world’s top triple jumper is only this good.”

After the first quarter, Meng Jin scored 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Meng Jin did not focus on scoring. In addition to offense, he also took into account defense and rebounding.

In the second quarter, Meng Jin rested for 2 minutes and then came on the court again. He made two consecutive mid-range shots right at the beginning. Soon Meng Jin made the third and fourth mid-range shots. The Hawks found that Meng Jin became unstoppable. Meng Jin, who was in hot form, was unstoppable because as long as he jumped, it was difficult for the opponent to interfere with him in the air.

So the Hawks set their sights on Meng Jin’s lower body. Kevin Willis and Doc Rivers tried to trip Meng Jin continuously, but all ended in failure. The reason was simple: Meng Jin knew how to control his body.

Meng Jin learned how to jump in his first year in the NBA.

The second and third years learned how to jump the highest.

This year I learned how to put the ball into the basket without jumping with all my strength.

Careful fans will find that Meng Jin seldom uses full force to jump in recent games. His movements always look very light, and not using full force to jump also leaves him with spare force for landing cushion. Moreover, he can land steadily by cushioning his toes when landing. If he really can’t land, he will just fall backwards without any effort no matter what he steps on.

Meng Jin did this to avoid sprains caused by losing control of his body falling or being tripped by his opponents. After all, tripping is the easiest way to ruin a player.

In addition to body control, Meng Jin now also leans back when shooting, which is to relieve the force and protect himself. Although Meng Jin’s body will not be injured now, the pain is real. If he is tripped continuously in a game, the continuous feeling of pain will also greatly affect his condition.

(End of this chapter)