Chapter 1 A Star's NBA Playoff Debut

"A year ago, he stepped onto the Zhongzhou Gymnasium stage, a young man still wet behind the ears.

He was the hope of Chinese basketball, the teenage king of Philadelphia.

Behind his handsome face lay determination and perseverance...

And behind that picturesque jump shot was a story that began at four in the morning.

At an age when boys need idols the most, he was a hero; when girls were infatuated with princes, he was their dream lover.

Many people asked, when will Chinese players finally break through the NBA's door?

Last summer, he gave us the answer.

That shooting star that streaked across the Zhongzhou Gymnasium floor is his trademark. Beneath his elegant exterior lies the unique arrogance and unruliness of his age.

Now, the regular season journey of his rookie season is over.

And next, he will head to Chicago with the hopes of all of us.

There, awaiting him, will be the greatest, and perhaps the greatest, shooting guard of all time:

— Michael Jordan.

This is destined to be an unbalanced duel.

Perhaps, even if they give it their all, they will struggle to win a single game;

However, from the first day I met him, I saw the light in his eyes.

Perhaps, this series will not be as magnificent as we imagine, but I believe they will run forward without hesitation.

A hundred-tempered Qinggang sword, a battlefield-conquering Overlord spear!

April 25th, let us witness Su Feng's NBA playoff debut together."

On the 21st, just as the 76ers were departing for Chicago, Su Junyang learned that the article he had written overnight on the 19th had generated a very positive response after being published in China.

The editor-in-chief of the *China Sports Daily* specifically praised Su Junyang and expressed his hope that he would continue to bring more high-quality reporting to Chinese fans.

"Xiao Su, keep up the good work!

I can't help you too much in other areas. With this article, I wish you success and a triumphant return!"

Su Junyang, who would not be heading to Chicago to cover the playoffs until tomorrow, looked up at the Philadelphia sky and silently clenched his fist.

"Achoo!"

"Why do I always feel like someone is talking about me behind my back?" Sitting on the plane to Chicago, Su Feng rubbed his nose.

Whatever. Su Feng could guess with his toes that it was probably Kobe badmouthing him again.

"So I still get nervous, huh?" Su Feng thought to himself, watching his body tremble.

Nervous? How could he not be nervous?

No matter how calm and indifferent he appeared on the outside, Su Feng had clearly felt his heart beating faster than usual since this morning.

After working hard for an entire season, wasn't Su Feng's goal to experience the playoffs with his teammates?

Although most American experts and fans, aside from those in Philadelphia and China, had already written off the 76ers when the playoff brackets were set, still...

When the team officially gathered this morning, Su Feng realized that he wasn't the only one daydreaming...

Having spent so much time with these teammates, Su Feng was already intimately familiar with each of their habits.

For example, Iverson. Before a big battle, if he was silent and lost in thought, it meant he was extremely confident about the upcoming game.

Another example was Ratliff. When nervous, he liked to stare at his lower body, and when he felt he could easily defeat his opponent, he would subconsciously twitch his shoulders.

As for Big Ben...

Well, all of his thoughts were written all over his face.

"Stay. Calm. We. Can. Win."

After glancing at Big Ben, the words above immediately popped into Su Feng's head.

Su Feng felt that these guys had no idea what facing the Bulls as the eighth seed really meant.

Generally, Su Feng would use three words to describe these people:

Daydreaming weirdos.

To paraphrase a saying Su Feng often used:

Back then, his old rogue could use 41 shots in the playoffs to get 63 points.

And his high school classmate would use 46 shots to get 81 points in the future.

So, let's ambush the Bulls, what if the Bulls suddenly died?

"If someone wrote down our real thoughts, people would laugh us to death, right?"

Su Feng thought to himself, watching his teammates with high morale.

…

New York. While the 76ers were heading to Chicago to prepare for their first-round playoff series against the Bulls, Stern was happily troubled.

The reason for this little Jewish man's happiness was...

The game between the 76ers and the Bulls would definitely break the NBA's overseas viewership record.

And what troubled him was that such a high-profile series, wouldn't it be great if it were in the semifinals or the Eastern Conference Finals?

If the Bulls swept the 76ers, how much money would the NBA lose?

Of course, Stern wasn't someone else.

So he didn't agree with that person's suggestion to have the referees slightly control the series between the 76ers and the Bulls.

However, the youngsters still needed some help.

After all, in the playoffs, Jordan and Pippen's star treatment would return, and it wouldn't be fair if the 76ers got rookie treatment!

Adhering to his consistent principles of fairness, openness, and impartiality, Stern pointed at the pictures of Su Feng and Iverson in the news reports to Mark, who instantly understood!

"I will remind the referees to be fair, open, and impartial in their officiating," Mark said to Stern.

Not bad, not bad.

Seeing his carefully cultivated tool becoming more and more sensible, Stern's feelings at that moment could be described with a Chinese four-character phrase: "I am very gratified."

Without a doubt, the series between the Bulls and the 76ers would steal the spotlight from all of the NBA's first-round matchups this year.

Whether it was the PK between the 34-year-old No. 23 and the 19-year-old No. 23, or the gimmick that the 76ers led the Bulls 3-1 in the regular season, the bottom line was...

In this era without social media, through newspapers and television, all of North America was curious about how long the 76ers could last under the Bulls' iron hooves.

Miami. Riley felt like he had been waking up with a smile on his face even in his dreams lately.

Riley's mood at this time was even better than when he had locked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a sauna to create the "Skyhook Package."

In Riley's view, there was definitely no problem for the Bulls to get past the 76ers.

However, one of the Bull's horns might be broken, and one of its hooves might be sprained. If it was even more tragic, then the 76ers might bite off its tail.

"Moo—!"

These days, while using a whip to drill the Heat's players, Riley's greatest hobby was to imitate a cow's call.

"All of you, perk up! Where's the masculinity on you?

Remember, we're going to eat steak in the Eastern Conference Finals this year!"

Hmm... it's time to make training even more exciting.

Or, try group sauna sessions?

Or add a small project of a 5-kilometer cross-country run every day?

Hiss, in fact, when doing shooting practice, punishing the players who miss shots by making them do twenty push-ups each time seems pretty good too...

The Heat's players were about to suffer.

Because when they saw Riley deep in thought, even a tough guy like Mourning felt a tightening in his rear.

…

In the afternoon of the 21st, carrying the expectations of the entire village, the young 76ers officially arrived in Chicago.

After the players got off the plane one after another, popular figures like Su Feng and Iverson were quickly besieged by the media reporters.

At this moment, the team's news officers and staff transformed into bodyguards, blocking the crazy reporters.

And then...

Honestly, put away your pitiful little arms.

Big Ben on the left, Ratliff on the right, unless there was someone like O'Neal among these reporters, they would never be able to break through this Alabama state defense line.

According to the team's arrangement, on the morning of the 22nd, the 76ers would train in the Bulls' old stadium.

In this era, most teams were still relatively generous. Except for the time when the 76ers had tricked the Heat once before, basically no gourd babies would do things like turning off the air conditioning in the stadium.

However, to be on the safe side, after the team arrived in the Windy City, all of the 76ers' players received a notice that they could not go out without the approval of the team's coaching staff.

In addition, the players' diet during this period would also be uniformly provided by the hotel designated by the 76ers.

This approach was to avoid some unnecessary troubles. In Su Feng's previous life, "Old Rogue" had once paid the price for indulging in his cravings...

The price of playing while having diarrhea.

Of course, because it was an away game, even if the 76ers booked the entire hotel, they still couldn't avoid some Bulls fans who were good at singing and dancing rap from coming to harass them.

Fortunately, with basketball, those were all the off-court factors you could blame.

Things like the weather or the grass, you couldn't blame even if you wanted to.

…

After arriving at the hotel and chatting with Iverson for a while, Su Feng returned to his room and continued to simulate the game between the 76ers and the Bulls in his mind.

However, until the next morning, the results Su Feng came to were all the same:

The 76ers lose, the Bulls win.

The series was different from the regular season. If the Bulls didn't underestimate them...

Hmm...

Hmm?

Hmm!

Suddenly thinking of something, Su Feng simulated again in his mind while the team was having breakfast.

"!!!"

"I say, Su, didn't you sleep all night?" Iverson asked caringly, looking at Su Feng's 'dark circles' and his surprised expression.

Su Feng shook his head and made a "don't talk first" gesture to Iverson.

Because of Su Feng's mysterious behavior, he successfully attracted the attention of many of his teammates during breakfast.

Well, in fact, simulations like this in the mind are unreliable, after all, there is always a gap between reality and what you think.

However, Su Feng, who was good at strategy, liked this kind of simulation, because in his view, it was also preparing backup plans for some unexpected events that might occur in future games.

Therefore, Su Feng seemed very carefree, but almost every one of his actions was based on careful consideration, rather than the kind of trash-talking that the future Embiid would do to anyone he met.

After breakfast, the entire 76ers team went to the Bulls' old stadium.

While the team was training, Davis immediately noticed Su Feng, who was out of sorts.

So, he hurriedly found Iverson, who had the best relationship with Su Feng, and asked, "Allen, do you know what's wrong with Su?"

Iverson shook his head helplessly and said, "It seems like he didn't sleep all night, and he's been preoccupied since this morning."

Hearing this, Davis frowned.

In Davis's view, Su Feng was the most important player on the 76ers.

If there was a problem with his mental state at this critical moment, then the 76ers...

They might as well just surrender without even playing.

"That's right, he's still a 19-year-old kid after all." After thinking for a while, Davis decided to have a chat with Su Feng.

After the team's first shooting practice session, Davis took the initiative to walk up to Su Feng.

"Su, what are you thinking about? If you're having any trouble, you can tell me," Davis said, patting Su Feng's shoulder with concern.

Yes!

Yes, yes, yes!

That's right!

Su Feng, who had finally come out of his simulation mode, looked at the head coach who had suddenly appeared in front of him...

And was a little stunned for a moment.

"What's wrong, coach?" Su Feng asked curiously, looking at Davis.

Davis said with a look of amusement, "Su, you're asking me what's wrong? What have you been thinking about all night without sleeping?"

I'll go!

Su Feng never expected that his concentration would be so terrifying once he focused.

But come to think of it, Su Feng's concentration should have been cultivated by the system.

Because in the Iron-Blooded Shooting System, deliberately missing shots didn't count, so in his early years, Su Feng had worked hard to concentrate.

On the court, after thinking for a while, Su Feng smiled and said to Davis, "Coach, I've been simulating our game against the Bulls in my mind."

"Oh?" Davis looked at Su Feng with a curious expression. At this time, the 76ers players were all surrounding them with a spectator's mentality.

"Don't tell me you've been simulating since last night?" Davis asked.

"In fact... I've been simulating since the night of the 19th," Su Feng replied seriously.

Honestly, if Su Feng didn't always tell the truth, Davis would have thought that Su Feng had sneaked out to find some prostitutes last night.

"Okay, you're so adorable, Su.

Can you tell me the result of your simulation?" Davis decided to trust Su Feng.

Of course, Davis was also very curious whether Su Feng had simulated a result that was favorable to the 76ers.

"Unfortunately... in my simulations, we basically lost all the time," Su Feng said, shrugging his shoulders.

Hearing this, Big Ben, Ratliff, and Iverson weren't very happy.

Because in their view, Su Feng should be like them, a man with the determination to defeat the Bulls!

"How many times did you simulate?" Iverson interjected.

After thinking seriously, Su Feng replied, "14,481 times."

"14,481 times?

Impossible! Not to mention that you can remember the number of times you simulated so clearly, and even with the odd numbers.

Listen to me, Su, are you saying that we can't win against the Bulls even if we play so many times?" Iverson asked in confusion.

After shaking his head and sighing, Su Feng suddenly made a "1" gesture to his teammates and coaches.

"No... in these 14,481 times, I saw that we won against the Bulls once," Su Feng said with a determined expression.

Hearing this, Davis was a little surprised.

Because... no matter how loudly the players shouted, in Davis's eyes, the 76ers probably couldn't win against the Bulls even if they played a million times.

So, he was very curious, what did Su Feng mean by winning this one time, was it winning one game against the Bulls, or...

"Su, what do you mean by winning?" Davis asked.

"Of course, I mean winning this series," Su Feng said, nodding seriously.

"Hey, see, I told you, Su is like us, he thinks we have a chance to defeat the Bulls!" Big Ben roared excitedly, and while roaring, he used his happy iron fist to hammer Ratliff's chest.

Ratliff was speechless, you're beating your chest, why are you hitting me?

Iverson blinked his big eyes and looked at Su Feng, "Then why do we lose so many times?"

Su Feng sighed, "Because the tactics are wrong."

"The tactics are wrong?" Davis, who was standing next to him, was not happy to hear this.

Was this still the Su Feng sweetheart in his eyes?

He was already shifting the blame to the coach before the game even started?

"Su, can you tell me, in the game where we defeated the Bulls in your mind, what tactics did we use?" Davis asked curiously.

After nodding, Su Feng first said to Davis, "Coach... in fact, even if we use the right tactics, our win rate may only be one in a thousand."

"In my prediction, the only time we won against the Bulls, we played like this, and like this." After a pause, Su Feng added for nearly 30 minutes.

30 minutes later...

Davis was stunned.

Because he couldn't believe that this was what a 19-year-old NBA player could say.

Jason and Rick, who didn't know when they had surrounded them, also couldn't believe it.

My goodness, this kid's tactical attainments are probably still above us, right?

Cough...

If you only talk about theory, then Su Feng is definitely a theory emperor.

He had downloaded many NBA teams' tactics from the Internet in his previous life, and his favorite thing to do was to argue with trolls on the internet.

On the court, as the saying goes, the experts watch the technique, and the laymen watch the excitement. Unlike the players who were confused, Davis thought after carefully considering it, that Su Feng's plan...

Seemed feasible!

Well, that's because Davis is a rookie coach. If you were to change him to someone else, even if it wasn't Larry Brown, they would immediately refute you.

The bottom line is that Davis does have the qualifications to become a famous coach.

People who know how to listen to advice generally don't do too badly, just like authors who like to copy chapter reviews always get praise from their readers.

"But Su... taking more than 30 three-pointers in a game, wouldn't that be too..." Davis looked at Su Feng hesitantly.

"No... coach, in my opinion, if necessary, we may have to take more than 40 three-pointers," Su Feng said seriously.

"Including forced shots?" Davis asked.

"Yes," Su Feng replied.

"And coach... if you really decide to adopt this plan, then you must allow me to do one thing." When he saw that Davis seemed to be convinced by him, Su Feng's expression suddenly became serious.

"You say," Davis nodded.

"That is... no matter what I do or say next, you must forgive me," Su Feng said.

"Su, you can't possibly do something more sensational than what you did in Los Angeles last time, right?" Davis laughed.

"No... it will be much more exaggerated than that." After taking a deep breath, Su Feng continued, "So... coach, I hope you won't be scared by me then."

Davis was silent for a few minutes thoughtfully, then patted Su Feng on the shoulder, "Su, I think the way you said is indeed feasible, but in terms of details, I still need to discuss some things with my assistant coach.

In addition, since we're already here, am I going to stop you from doing what you want to do?"

In Davis's mind, a well-behaved child like Su Feng wouldn't do something stupid like Stackhouse, right?

On the court, Su Feng was happy after seeing that Davis had been inexplicably won over by him.

To be honest, Su Feng was quite willing to play for a person like Davis for ten or eight years.

Of course, after simulating so many times in his mind, Su Feng was also very clear that even with so much behind-the-scenes busyness, what he would ultimately get was likely just a beating from the Bulls.

But you have to know that Su Feng's strong desire to win simply didn't allow him to miss even a one in a million chance of winning.

Therefore...

In Su Feng's view, a one in 14,481 chance of winning was enough!

…

Fa Biao De Wo Niu