[On December 27, 2011, with Michael Jordan absent, Link scored 27 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds, and 1 Steal, but the Washington Wizards lost to the Indiana Pacers 96-105.]
Returning to the hotel that night, Link received a text message forwarded by Michael Jordan.
"Damn it, first meditation, then physical exercise." The NBA's dense schedule made Link mentally exhausted; he had planned to get a good night's sleep tonight. After all, the next game was still an away game. In two days, they would travel to Charlotte to challenge the Charlotte Hornets led by Baron Davis again.
Link used one of Isaac's sparring partner cards. To be honest, Isaac's one-on-one defense was quite a bane for Link at this stage. Whether it was Speed, physique, or strength, Link couldn't gain any advantage.
Under Michael Jordan's unique "stimulation," Link was exceptionally focused, a feeling reminiscent of the night before facing LeBron James at the ABCD Training Camp.
After exiting the virtual space, Link headed to the hotel's gym. Although the gym's facilities weren't particularly complete, they were entirely sufficient for Link, who only wanted to train his Explosiveness.
He jumped tirelessly, round after round.
...
...
The time was December 29, 2011.
With 2 hours remaining until the game against the Charlotte Hornets, Link arrived at the training facility early to meditate, as he always did before games. Of course, in reality, Link was practicing... proper combat with Ran Mouri in the virtual space.
Stimulated by Michael Jordan, the training effects over the past few days were immediate.
[Ball Handling] base attribute +1, increased to 93 (96); [Driving Layup] base attribute +2, increased to 90 (95);
[Explosive Acceleration] base attribute +2, increased to 86 (90);
[Explosiveness] base attribute +4, increased to 77 (87);
The Charlotte Hornets' starting lineup tonight was exactly the same as last time.
Baron Davis, Lee Nailon, Stacey Augmon, P.J. Brown, and Elden Campbell.
Michael Jordan was again absent tonight. The Charlotte Hornets' elite defensive player, Stacey Augmon, standing 203cm tall and weighing 101kg with an excellent wingspan, would be primarily responsible for defending Link. The defensive pressure he put on Link was even stronger than Isaac's.
Of course, this had a lot to do with the "hand-checking" rule.
Facing his defense, Link could still break through by using rhythm, shifting the opponent's Center of gravity, and combining it with powerful physical confrontation, but the effect was not good. There was no way around it; the paint area in this era was too crowded, without the "open space" of the small-ball era.
Link, after driving to the basket and encountering the help defense of the opponent's 7-foot Center, Elden Campbell, tried to pass the ball to Brendan Haywood behind him. However, the pass was always disrupted out of bounds.
"Hey, rookie... I can see through all your offensive intentions," Stacey Augmon said with a grin, having once again knocked the ball out of bounds.
"Shut up!"
"You, who haven't scored a single point, have no right to speak."
At this moment, a sharp rebuke directly targeted Stacey Augmon.
However...
The person who said this was not Link, but the team's veteran, Laettner.
Washington Wizards head coach Doug Collins, seeing this, also quickly called a timeout. After returning to the bench, Laettner kept analyzing with Link why his passes were always disrupted. This was not entirely a fundamental skill issue; it was also because Link's offensive intentions were too obvious.
Link, using a screen, would enter the paint with the ball and, when facing help defense, would always immediately look for the "receiver." For an elite defensive player like Stacey Augmon, this was too easy to anticipate.
"Link... you need to hide your true intentions; only then can your Passing improve," Laettner said.
"Okay, big brother, I'll try it later." Link nodded humbly, absorbing the key points Laettner mentioned.
After the timeout, Link and Haywood ran a pick-and-roll. Stacey Augmon squeezed past the screen and faced Link again. Link performed a crossover, and his first step exploded past the defender by more than half a body length.
Charlotte Hornets Center Campbell quickly came over for help defense, while Stacey Augmon left Link, ready to intercept any pass to Haywood.
Link did not pass the ball immediately at this moment. Instead, he suddenly pivoted on his right foot and executed a fadeaway jumper. Stacey Augmon, who wanted to intercept the pass, had no time to block, and Campbell, who had just reached his defensive position, also had no time to gather himself for a jump, only watching as Link made the fadeaway shot.
13-18. The Washington Wizards were currently trailing by 5 points.
But this shot seemed to become a crucial turning point in the game.
Link once again drove into the paint with the ball, activating [Moment of Domination: Gods Weapon] Lv2. This time, it wasn't a fadeaway; instead, he faked a shot, tricking Campbell into jumping, creating a time difference, and making the shot.
Link was at it again... he entered the paint with the live ball. The previous two successful shots made the Charlotte Hornets extremely wary of Link's shooting threat. And at this moment, as Link's jump shot was about to be blocked by Stacey Augmon, he suddenly "changed his mind" in mid-air, adapting with a pass to Brendan Haywood.
The latter, after receiving the ball,
21-20. The Washington Wizards had gone on an 8-2 run in the past 3 minutes, directly overturning the score.
And Haywood, who completed his second alley-oop tonight, directly yelled at Link: "Link, you are the God of Point Guards!"
"God of Point Guards?"
Link frowned slightly.
He didn't like this nickname; he was a man destined to be the GOAT.
How could he be satisfied with just being the God of Point Guards...
However, if his teammates insisted on calling him that, he could only reluctantly agree.
On offense, Link continuously tore apart the Charlotte Hornets' defense by adding an extra layer of offensive fakes and reading the defense more patiently.
And on defense...
The Wizards made a bold adjustment.
Zone defense!
The Wizards had not used a Zone defense this season. However, this also made the team very passive when facing teams with "powerful big men" or "aggressive guards."
Although the Zone defense tactic is theoretically simple—not to mention NBA players, even American elementary school students are very familiar with it—it's not easy to unleash its power.