290: 144.
Here comes the question, who has stronger teaching abilities, Larry Bird or the God of Basketball?
290: 144.
Here comes the question, who has stronger teaching abilities, Larry Bird or the God of Basketball?
Although you won the recognition of Boston fans in your rookie season, performed outstandingly in the playoffs, and had a solid showing in the Finals, it’s Len Bias, bathed in national acclaim, who remains the future in the hearts of Boston fans.
Len Bias’s college performance was even better, and in his sophomore season, he scored 29 points against the then-junior Michael Jordan, who only scored 21 points.
The sudden death of Len Bias left the Boston fans in despair, feeling as if the team’s future was shrouded in darkness.
Auerbach, in order to secure the second overall draft pick, not only exhausted his years of built-up contacts but also traded away multiple draft selections and role players — efforts that came to nothing.
And you, the other half of what Auerbach called a dual-core future, in the eyes of the Boston fans, are at best the “fridge” to Bird’s “Bird,” the one who plays a supporting role.
Without Len Bias, there is no future core role for you.
After trading for the second overall pick and losing several quality substitutes, and with Bill Walton undergoing surgery in July, expected to miss 8-10 months, the consensus was grim for your title defense season.
However, once the new season began, you, turning 23 and entering your sophomore year, showed tremendous improvement from the very start.
More accurate shooting, more refined skills, just-right defense, and you even developed a Bird-like post-up move…
By the end of the first month, you’d successfully usurped Danny Ainge to become the team’s new starting shooting guard, playing 80 games in the regular season, averaging 24.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.2 steals, a shooting percentage of 50.1%, a three-point percentage of 41%, and a free-throw percentage of 87%.
Together with Larry Bird, averaging 26 points, and Kevin McHale, averaging 20.8 points, you formed the league’s most fearsome frontcourt-backcourt trio, leading the team to a record of 60 wins and 22 losses, clinching the top spot in the East over the Hawks.
Thanks to an outstanding regular season performance, you were selected for the Eastern All-Star reserves and made the All-NBA Second Team.
In the first round of the playoffs, you helped the team once again sweep the Chicago Bulls, performing brilliantly in your matchup with Michael Jordan, averaging 20 points while utilizing the rim protection of the twin towers McHale and Parish, and Bird’s help defense, restricting the regular-season 48% shooter Michael Jordan to just 33.1 points per game and a 39% shooting percentage.
In the second round against the 50-win Bucks, the Celtics’ vulnerability due to loss of key rotation players and weakened bench strength was exposed, with scores of 126-124, 121-126, 124-129 in the first three games, putting you at a 1-2 deficit.
By Game 4, you exploded, playing 49 minutes, hitting 13 of 23 shots, including 3 out of 5 threes, and sinking 13 out of 16 free throws, scoring 42 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, combined with Bird’s 32 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, McHale’s 28 points, 20 rebounds…
and led the team to a 138-130 double-overtime narrow win over the Bucks, tying the series.
In the following two games, coach K.C.
Jones used you as the primary scoring option, Bird shifted to playing point forward primarily to draw double teams, and you scored 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 26 points, 10 rebounds, respectively, leading the team to scores of 119-113 and 126-124, winning three straight games and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 4-2 series win.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, facing the Pistons and their Bad Boys Legion’s rough defense, you didn’t flinch.
Over five games, you averaged 27 points and blew past Joe Dumars, outshining Adrian Dantley’s average of 26 points and Bird’s 26 points, 11 assists to become the leading scorer of the series, guiding the Celtics to a 4-1 victory over the Pistons and setting up a Finals showdown with the arch-rival Lakers.
Bill Laimbeer, who had grown to admire you since the incident with Bird, praised you after the Eastern Finals, stating Jakobian Bayers is even more talented.
His talent is no less than Len Bias’s, and he’s more hardworking, smarter, and tougher.
He’s tough not only on the court but also inside; he won’t be foolish enough to numb his mind with drugs.
Amid the scorn and indifference of foolish Celtics fans, he showed a resilient and strong mentality, outshining everyone with his performance.
Only then did the Boston fans realize that they had lamented the ‘loss of a future core’ for a year when, in fact, the core of the future had been in their ranks all along.
And there’s no need to wait for the future; the future has arrived.
At 23, you and the 30-year-old Bird have become an unstoppable duo in the playoffs, already hinting at a legacy akin to that of Magic and Jabbar…
Today is June 1, 1987, the day after the Eastern Finals, with the start of the Finals set for June 5 at the Great Western Forum, the Lakers’ home court.
The team has been showing significant weaknesses since the second round—besides Bird and Dennis Johnson, there isn’t a third reliable passer.
Bird has planned to teach you a couple of moves in the three days before heading to Los Angeles, and you’ve agreed to meet at 9 AM today at the gym…
…
Waking up from his sleep, Zhang Yang received a message from the Gate of Trials.
The past year in the 80-time line seemed quite eventful.
The playoffs against the Bulls were over, and there were some regrets…
but facing off against Magic and Kareem in the Finals made Jordan at that time seem less important.
Zhang Yang opened the ‘Gate of Trials,’ ready to assess his abilities.
“Name: Zhang Yang.
Age: 23 years old (Date of birth: June 6, 1963).
Height: 196 centimeters, Wingspan: 210 centimeters, Weight: 95 kilograms.
Ability Assessment (Trial Mode): Three-point 83, Mid-range 92, Layup 94, Ball-handling 93, Passing 81, Speed 92, Strength 88, Jumping 89, Stamina 92…”