harleyscars Chapter 9: The team's status remains unchanged!
Chapter 9: The team's status remains unchanged!
Lin Tian did not expect that his ability to go toe-to-toe with Jordan on the first day of training camp would not help him improve his status and situation on the team.
Because Jordan's targeting of him just began on this very day!
After that, in almost every training match, Jordan would try to match up against Lin Tian, and then repeatedly crush Lin Tian and beat him to a pulp!
Although Lin Tian managed to regain some ground using his speed and passing ability each time, he was still completely outmatched. The two could barely be considered evenly matched.
Jordan's repeated targeting and provocations led almost everyone on the team to believe that Lin Tian was not far from leaving the team. It was just a matter of when Jordan got tired of playing with him and had enough of him. That would be the time when Lin Tian left the Bulls.
Which guy who's relentlessly targeted by the team's star player can stay on the team for long?
Therefore, Lin Tian was basically isolated in the team. Not only did the Brown trio make sarcastic remarks to him from time to time, but the other team members also hardly spoke to Lin Tian at all. They did not want to be regarded as Lin Tian's partner by Jordan, and they did not want to be purged by Jordan for saying a few words to Lin Tian.
The only two exceptions were Kukoc and Bill Wennington.
In the 1992 Olympics, Kukoc was targeted by Jordan and Pippen in a game against the Dream Team, which made him question his life. Later, when he joined the Bulls, he was also bullied by these two villains.
He understood Lin Tian's situation very well and sympathized with him, so during training matches, he was the one who passed the ball to Lin Tian the most!
Although Wennington looked fierce and had more chest hair than head hair, he was actually very kind-hearted. He often told Lin Tian to just soften his stance and have a good talk with Jordan, so that Jordan might stop targeting him in the future.
But Lin Tian rejected Wennington's offer without hesitation.
As for the reason?
The '92-93 season Jordan trial card (3 minutes)' currently lying in Lin Tian's system inventory is enough to explain everything!
That was something Jordan revealed when Lin Tian was in exceptional form during a training session one day. He hit four mid-range shots in a row against Jordan, blocked several of Jordan's jump shots, and then started trash-talking Jordan.
Although the outcome that day was that Lin Tian almost broke his ribs from Jordan's elbow, Lin Tian still felt waves of happiness!
This time it's a trial card, what about next time? Permanent skills?
Even for this reason alone, he has to continue provoking them!
Besides hoping to learn more from Jordan, Lin Tian could clearly feel that his physical strength, defense, and experience were growing rapidly during the more than half a month of playing against Jordan!
Besides him, who else in the league can keep Jordan in a state of rage every day, and match up against him every day?
The endless one-on-one battles with Jordan were the best source of experience for Lin Tian!
Although Lin Tian's skills and attributes haven't improved much yet, he can sense that once the training camp ends, his strength will definitely see a huge boost!
Besides Lin Tian himself feeling that he benefited greatly, Phil Jackson was even more impressed with this rookie!
Lin Tian has shown resilience and perseverance these past few days, as well as an indomitable and fearless spirit!
Of course, the most important thing is Lin Tian's talent in fast breaks!
Lin Tian's fast break awareness and speed are not only among the best in the league, but his overall vision and passing ability in fast breaks and transitions have also amazed Jackson time and time again!
It can be said that as long as the team gets moving and doesn't fall into positional play, Lin Tian can always show his outstanding talent!
Although Lin Tian couldn't demonstrate much playmaking ability in positional play due to his lack of experience, insufficient physical strength, and clumsy dribbling skills, as long as he ran, Lin Tian could always remind Jackson of that guy who was so good at passing that people forgot even his name.
Magic Johnson!
Jackson had already prepared a lot of tactics and methods for using Lin Tian in his mind, just waiting for a chance to put them into practice!
However, no matter how much Jackson thought highly of Lin Tian, he didn't show it.
Jackson didn't even intervene in Jordan's targeting and his teammates' isolation.
That's his style: let things take their natural course and let them develop as they will.
Jackson believed that Lin Tian could handle these things well!
After all, he had known Jordan for so many years and had never seen anyone dare to be so arrogant and confident in front of him!
On this day, Lin Tian drove his 1954 Corvette classic sports car, a gift from his parents after he entered the NBA, and brought it to a rumble in the parking lot.
He had just stepped out of the car when he heard Brown's sarcastic voice:
"Some people have no idea how much money they have or how much they can earn. They choose to buy luxury goods to satisfy their unrealistic vanity. Such people are likely to be eliminated in the NBA within two years."
"Then I went bankrupt within two years, lost everything, and went back to being homeless on the streets."
"Randy, if you're talking about me," Lin Tian said, never tolerating this guy he didn't get along with. He didn't even look at him directly, but continued walking, "Then you're wrong. My family has more money than the hair on your head. Bankrupt? Why don't you check the Forbes rich list, then you'll know how stupid you are!"
"Lin." Wennington happened to arrive at the arena at that moment. After greeting Lin Tian, he asked, "Is your family really listed in Forbes? What's your ranking? What business do you run?"
"How could anyone possibly find that out? If I were that rich, I'd be crazy to play basketball." Lin Tian shrugged. "But that idiot probably can't even read. I bet he doesn't even know where to buy Forbes magazine."
"They really asked for trouble by offending you." Wen Ning shook his head and didn't say anything more.
Neither Lin Tian nor Wennington noticed that Brown, standing behind them, had a deep resentment and malice on his face!
It wasn't just because Lin Tian had been humiliating him all day, or even every day, but also because Brown clearly felt that Lin Tian was getting better and better lately!
His unease grew stronger, and he had a very clear and accurate premonition: if things continued like this, he would be the one to lose his job when the season started! He simply couldn't compete with Lin Tian and would definitely lose all his playing time and status on the team.
We have to take action!
Even if we can't get rid of this bastard, we have to let him know who the boss is!