Chapter 199 Violent Basketball
On February 2, Pippen made his Bulls debut against the Boston Celtics.

“nervous?”

Before the game started, Meng Jin looked at Pippen with a frown on his face and asked with a smile.

“I feel like vomiting.” Pippen said seriously.

“Relax, don’t be stressed.” Meng Jin patted Pippen on the shoulder.

Pippen shook his head: “I’m not nervous, it’s just that it stinks here!”

Meng Jin smelled it and found that there was indeed a foul odor.

“Maybe they put some shit somewhere. You know, the Celtics always like to do some little tricks,” Meng Jin said.

“I’ve been to this stadium so many times, why have I never encountered this?” Pippen asked.

“Scottie, you know, the people here hate the Bulls to their core. They all like to do some small tricks. I’ve long been accustomed to this kind of treatment, and you will soon get used to it. The Bulls have many enemies.”

After Meng Jin finished speaking, he walked out of the player tunnel. The player entrance ceremony began and he was going to enjoy the boos and greetings from the away fans.

The Celtics’ starting lineup was Kevin Jumber, Brian Shaw, Reggie Lewis, Larry Bird and Robert Parish.

The characteristic of this Celtics team is that they have both old and young players. “Chief” Parish is about to turn 38, Larry Bird is also about to turn 35, and the oldest of the other three players, Kevin Jumber, Brian Shaw, and Reggie Lewis, is only 26 years old.

But this team with a serious age gap has a good record this year. The team’s current record is 40 wins and 14 losses, which is enough to prove Larry Bird’s leadership ability and the foundation of the Celtics team.

The Celtics are not in full form tonight. The team’s core player McHale is injured, and the Celtics’ firepower has been greatly reduced. But the Bulls will not take it lightly. They lost Jordan not long ago, and the new Pippen is also in the running-in period with his teammates. Their lineup is not complete either.

The Bulls sent out Pippen, Paxson, Meng Jin, Grant and Cartwright tonight.

Head coach Bach put Pippen at the number one position. This was not Bach’s whim. Pippen played point guard for at least half of his career with the Kings. The Kings originally wanted to make Pippen a tall point guard like Magic, but failed. Pippen’s passing was okay, but not at the level of Magic. The Kings were not the Lakers. Top passers must be surrounded by top teammates, otherwise their abilities will be greatly reduced.

The game started and Cartwright won the jump ball.

Pippen dribbled the ball two steps and then looked for Meng Jin.

Meng Jin wanted to force an attack as soon as he came on, but the Celtics’ new head coach Chris Ford was well prepared. He asked Reggie Lewis, the most mobile player in the team, to defend Meng Jin, with the left and right wings shrinking and the two inside players squatting in the penalty area at the same time.

Chris Ford’s idea was very simple, which was to use an iron bucket formation to limit Meng Jin and prevent him from getting into the groove at the beginning of the game.

Meng Jin threw the ball back at the edge of the penalty area, leaving Pippen open at the top of the arc.

Seeing Pippen hesitate, Meng Jin quickly shouted, “Shoot!”

Pippen picked up his fallen hand again, but the opportunity was fleeting and Brian Shaw immediately stuck to him.

This version of Pippen did not develop a mid-range shot, and he didn’t even have a strong desire to score, a bit like Ben Simmons in his previous life.

Pippen has a typical passive personality. He needs someone to push him. In his previous life, that person was Jordan. But there is no such player in the Kings. Pippen’s shooting ability is only slightly better than when he was a rookie, and his shooting hot zone is basically within the free throw line.

Pippen dribbled back a step and regrouped.

Paxson used a screen to go around the corner, and Pippen passed the ball to him immediately. His vision is indeed very good, and he is unique in the current Bulls team.

Paxson raised his hand and shot a three-pointer. He was not as hesitant as Pippen in handling the ball. After all, his job was to shoot.

“Bang!”

The basketball went out of the frame. Robert Parish received the rebound and protected it with his elbow. He waited until it was completely safe before passing it to Brian Shaw beside him.

Brian Shaw returned from Italy this year after further studies. He was selected by the Celtics before the 88-89 season. After playing for a year, Brian Shaw went to Italy to play. According to rumors, Brian Shaw was sent to Italy by Meng Jin.

In a game during his rookie season, Brian Shaw was inexplicably assigned by the coach to defend Meng Jin. The then coach Jimmy Rogers and Brian Shaw explained that the best strategy to defend Meng Jin was to let a defender about 2 meters tall lead the defense, and then other players would help him back up. As a result, his teammates were always half a beat slow in defense in that game, and Brian Shaw was pinned to the ground by Meng Jin, and was depressed for a month.

Brian Shaw was a little reluctant to return this time. In 1989, Brian Shaw signed a two-year contract with the Italian team Il-Messaggero, but in January 1990, Shaw returned to the Celtics and signed a five-year long-term contract with them. In June of the same year, Brian Shaw told the Celtics that he planned to continue playing for Il-Messaggero in the 1 season because he knew his shortcomings were too obvious and it was very stressful to play for a traditional powerhouse like the Celtics.

The Celtics also know that Brian Shaw’s offensive performance is too up and down and his defensive ability is average, but the lead point guard Dennis Johnson has just retired and the team needs talent at the No. 1 position.

As a result, a contract dispute occurred between the two parties, and Brian Shaw eventually agreed to return to the Celtics. This dispute is also a famous case in American sports law, and many law schools list it as a teaching case for contract law.

Brian Shaw passed the ball to Reggie Lewis after crossing half court. Now Reggie Lewis is the Celtics’ real outside ball-handling core.

Reggie Lewis changed direction and went to the basket, playing very decisively. Due to the Celtics’ injury problems in the past two seasons, Reggie Lewis has had many opportunities and has already played with confidence.

Pippen covered him with his long arms, but Reggie Lewis was not afraid of the confrontation and jumped to the basket to force a shot!
The referee blew the whistle and called a foul on Pippen.

“Scottie, don’t push your arms down, just defend normally!” Head coach Bach was rarely anxious. In Coach Bach’s tactical concept, Pippen was an important part of the team’s perimeter defense system. He didn’t want Pippen to fall into the foul trap early and have to rest.

Reggie Lewis made two free throws and the Bulls took the offensive turn. Meng Jin once again used his own attraction to help his teammates create offensive opportunities, but Grant failed to grasp it and his shot missed.

Meng Jin wanted to let his teammates play at the beginning of the game and use his own attractiveness to help his teammates play simple balls. However, the Bulls’ shooting percentage was poor today. After the first quarter, the Bulls were 20 points behind 29 to 9.

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, the score difference reached 13 points.

Meng Jin applied for an early start as he was worried that he would lose time if he didn’t play. During the offseason this season, the Bulls brought Meng Jin backup small forward Cliff Livingston. His peak season was in 87-88, when Cliff Livingston averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of 55%. This season, Cliff Livingston averaged only 3 points and 2 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of 45%. He is like a contract fraudster, and after signing a two-year, $2 million pension contract with the Bulls, he really started to retire.

In the past 2 minutes, Cliff Livingston was completely unreliable. He missed a shot and made 2 turnovers. Bach also agreed to Meng Jin’s request and sent him back to the court after the dead ball. This season, Meng Jin is still in a state of having no substitute. His average playing time per game has reached an exaggerated 41.2 minutes, and it is estimated that this number will increase after the end of the season. Without Jordan, he has to bear more game pressure.

The Bulls’ rhythm was obviously different after Meng Jin came on the court. Meng Jin contributed 1 steal and 1 block in two rounds. The Bulls made consecutive quick counterattacks and the score difference dropped to single digits in a blink of an eye.

Celtics head coach Chris Ford quickly called a timeout. He was not the kind of man who would not cry until he saw the coffin. He would not let the Bulls gain momentum.

After the timeout, the Celtics replaced Larry Bird and Reggie Lewis.

In the first attack after the timeout, Larry Bird used his teammates’ screen to cut to the basket. Meng Jin bypassed the screen and nailed Bird’s layup on the backboard from behind.

After receiving the ball with both hands, Meng Jin swung the ball vigorously, and Pippen broke through alone and challenged Brian Shaw one-on-one, dunking and scoring two points.

This is the advantage of Pippen playing point guard. With his size, once he starts rushing forward, ordinary point guards can’t do anything to him.

“Larry, you have degenerated into a civilian star this season.” Meng Jin said in Larry Bird’s ear.

This is both trash talk and the truth. Larry Bird averaged only 19 points per game this season, which is the first season in his career that his average score did not exceed 20 points per game, and his shooting percentage was only 45%, which is also a new low in his career.

In the next few rounds, Larry Bird scored 7 points in a row to respond strongly to Meng Jin. After hitting a difficult step-back three-pointer over Meng Jin’s head, Larry Bird spread his hands and said, “You can’t stop a civilian star?”

Larry Bird is essentially the same kind of person as Meng Jin. If you piss him off, he will beat you up badly.

In the next offensive round, Meng Jin found an opportunity after the pick-and-roll, directly knocked Larry Bird off the floor, and forced a 2+1.

“I’m destroying a civilian star.” Looking at Larry Bird on the ground, Meng Jin retorted.

There is a huge physical gap between the two, and after Meng Jin’s all-round physical upgrade this time, the gap is even more outrageous.

The best way to reduce this gap is to prevent them from matching up. The Celtics coaching staff asked Larry Bird to defend Grant at position 4, but mismatches are inevitable during the game.

Larry Bird, despite his back injury, quickly stood up and pushed Meng Jin!
Meng Jin also pushed Larry Bird back, almost causing the old man to fall to the ground again. The two exchanged a few words and were pulled apart by the referee.

The two players were very angry in this quarter, which was very satisfying for the fans. The fans were dreaming back to the time when the two players competed against each other a few seasons ago.

Larry Bird and Meng Jin are equally famous, but as far as this season is concerned, the ability gap between the two has widened. Larry Bird’s physical function has deteriorated greatly, while Meng Jin is still improving. Larry Bird may be able to compete with Meng Jin in a certain quarter, but this kind of scoring is unlikely to last a whole game.

At the beginning of the second half, Meng Jin continuously bombarded the Celtics’ basket with tough breakthroughs and took the initiative in the game.

Reggie Lewis increased his aggressiveness in defense in the next few rounds. Reggie Lewis’s aggressiveness was not some small move. He went head-to-head with Meng Jin and used his chest to meet Meng Jin’s chest.

This surprised Meng Jin very much. Reggie Lewis was much tougher than he had been two seasons ago, but Meng Jin would not give in. If the opponent was tough, Meng Jin would usually be even tougher. He didn’t like the feeling of being suppressed by his opponent.

A minute later, Meng Jin found an opportunity. Pippen successfully intercepted Brian Shaw’s pass in the backcourt. Reggie Lewis quickly got to the basket. Pippen was stuck in position and saw that he had no chance to shoot comfortably, so he turned around and passed the ball.

Meng Jin, who was following up, was so fast that his afterimage appeared in the picture. After catching the ball, he dunked like a god and pushed Reggie Lewis two meters away. If there was no photographer to buffer him at the baseline, he would probably fly even farther!

In the next offensive round, Meng Jin faced Robert Parish after a pick-and-roll. Meng Jin chose to attack violently, taking one dribble to directly receive the ball and pushing the “Chief” away with a small layup and scored!

This is the third Celtics player that Meng Jin has knocked down tonight. Meng Jin played very roughly throughout the game. He not only wanted to score points but also wanted to destroy his opponent’s heart.

Even the commentator couldn’t help but sigh: “It’s not just what Meng is doing, but how he is doing it… This may be the most dominant offensive performance I have seen this season. He has something to gain from every strong attack, either scoring a goal or drawing a foul. It’s a head-on physical confrontation and crushing the opponent in the paint, my God!”

Meng Jin scored 18 points in the third quarter, helping the team to reverse the score.

In the fourth quarter, the Celtics used several three-point tactics in a row. After head coach Chris Ford took office, the Celtics obviously paid more attention to the three-pointer tactics. Chris Ford is a Celtics legend. The most famous event in his career was making the first three-pointer in NBA history.

However, the Celtics couldn’t find the feeling of three-point shooting tonight, and after a few minutes of play, the score gap was widened by the Bulls. It was too late for Chris Ford to adjust the tactics, and the Celtics’ morale was gone.

Larry Bird was knocked over again by Meng Jin in the middle of the fourth quarter. Meng Jin was going to play violent basketball to the end tonight. Chris Ford replaced Larry Bird for safety reasons, and the Celtics announced their surrender in advance.

At the end of the game, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Celtics 112-100 away.

孟进全场砍下50分14篮板5助攻4抢断3抢断，孟进也追平了张伯伦连续7场比赛砍下50+的纪录。

Paxson made 6 three-pointers tonight and scored 18 points. Grant also scored 15 points. After Jordan left, Grant was the happiest person on the team. Not only did the people who bullied him disappear, but Grant also got more shots. However, his score did not increase much. Grant’s offensive means were relatively simple, and it was difficult for him to digest so many shots at once. Cartwright scored 11 points. As he got older, Cartwright’s physical strength became less and less. For the sake of the team, he allocated more physical energy to the defensive end. This season, he can only get about 9 points per game.

Pippen had the lowest score among the Bulls’ starting players, and was the only player who did not score in double digits. However, his contribution was not the lowest. He scored 9 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Except for scoring, he did everything else perfectly. The fans did not have too high expectations of Pippen. If he could also score perfectly, he would be worth more than this price.

(End of this chapter)