Chapter 87

"Little brother, are you going to the team so early again today?"

"Yeah, I want to go to the team early to practice."

Under the somewhat worried gaze of his older sister Lin Han, it was only six o'clock in the morning, yet Lin Han rushed out of the house. At this time, his second sister and younger sister were still sleeping.

As for the changes in Lin Han over the past few days, Lin Han was also somewhat worried. Since the game against the Suns ended, Lin Han had changed. This change was filled with a sense of crisis, especially after he used the "T-Mac Moment" in the final moments of that game and was still blocked by Barkley. After the game, he was extremely anxious. In Lin Han's mind, although the number of times he used the T-Mac pull-up shot was far less than the Kobe-style fadeaway, most of his points on the court came from the Kobe-style fadeaway.

However, the skill characteristic of the Kobe-style spin fadeaway was too problematic. The scoring burst and the iron burst were equally astonishing. As Lin Han's reputation grew, the pressure he felt when using this skill also increased, especially after his personality trait changed to 1%. Using this skill basically meant using bad shots to pad his stats. As long as the team could win, bad shots to pad stats were not a big deal. In the past, apart from some media who would make a few sarcastic comments, there was nothing much to it.

However, now everything was different. Especially after the games against New York and the Suns, people's expectations for Lin Han had changed. In the final moments of the game against the Suns, Lin Han faced a triple team and still chose to shoot. This wasn't something he hadn't encountered before. Although teams rarely used a double team on Lin Han, there were times when he had more than one defender around him when he shot. In such situations, Lin Han would always choose to shoot without hesitation, regardless of whether it went in or not. No one really cared.

But now? Although the game against the Suns had ended, the media's criticism of Lin Han had not stopped. In the past, no matter what his shooting percentage was, as long as Lin Han could score 30 or 40 points in a game, he would have perfectly demonstrated his role and value. People saw him as a role player, and a role player scoring 30 to 40 points a game was already impressive. Now, people expected him to be a true star player. The Jazz had even officially named him the team's third option. With this new status, his responsibilities had also increased. No one would judge him by the standards of a role player anymore. Scoring 30 or 40 points was now expected, and he had to do it efficiently. This was a huge pressure for Lin Han.

Faced with such pressure, what could Lin Han do? He could only continuously improve himself. Otherwise, he would be mocked and despised by more and more people. Although the insults from others could increase his personality trait, no one was a masochist, and Lin Han wasn't either. He didn't like being insulted and provoked like he was during the summer. If the T-Mac pull-up shot used to be the biggest psychological lock that gave him a sense of security, making him feel he had an invincible skill, then after being blocked by Barkley in the last game, this last safe haven was no longer so safe.

Barkley, although one of the top stars in the league, was not the best defensive star. If Barkley could block his pull-up shot when focused, then at least ten other players in the league, if they were willing, could also block Lin Han's pull-up. This wasn't to say the T-Mac pull-up wasn't strong. Although this purple-gold skill didn't have the scoring burst of the Kobe-style spin fadeaway, it was indeed very powerful. The key was that the person using the skill wasn't good enough. Lin Han's current ability was indeed not good enough. Not to mention the gap with T-Mac, the most important thing was that the whole world knew Lin Han's style was too单一. Apart from shooting, there was no other variation. This meant that Lin Han's pull-up had lost its suddenness and unpredictability, making it easier to defend. Even though the skill had the attribute of ignoring personal defense, as Aili explained, it only meant that it was hard to be interrupted when using the skill, and you could shoot in any situation. However, if the intention to shoot was too easy to detect, the shot would not be invincible, and the chance of being blocked would greatly increase.

This was what Lin Han feared the most. After the game against the Suns, although the team won, no one mentioned Lin Han being dominated by Barkley, Lin Han knew that after this game, the pressure he would face would be enormous.

So, Lin Han wanted to change himself. He first thought of using the system training hall, which didn't have time passing. In the system training hall, Lin Han spent a lot of points and trained for a long time, but none of his attributes changed, meaning his strength didn't improve. According to Aili, his basketball potential had been completely exhausted. Lin Han didn't want to believe this, even though it might be true. So, he chose another method: training hard in reality. Although it had been proven that training hard in reality didn't improve his abilities, Lin Han needed a reason for himself. After the game against the Suns, Lin Han got up very early every morning and went to the team to train very early. This not only surprised his sister but also surprised the team's two training fanatics, Malone and Stockton.

Although Lin Han didn't think he was particularly passionate about basketball when he chose to play, for him, survival was the top priority when he first decided to go to the NBA. Now, Lin Han knew his feelings about the NBA and the team were different from the beginning. It was a complex emotion. Lin Han didn't know what this emotion was, but he knew he didn't want to leave the NBA or basketball. He had started to enjoy everything in the NBA.

When Barkley said he would dominate Lin Han every time he met him, and many NBA stars responded to Barkley, saying Lin Han's behavior on the court was indeed problematic, Lin Han knew his future path would be dark if he didn't change.

"Don't worry too much. At worst, you'll just be criticized. Even if you can't improve through training, with the Legendary System's ability, you will eventually become a true star. Moreover, with the Jazz's strength, not many teams will really double-team you. Although many NBA stars are unhappy with you, they can't do much to you. Don't worry too much."

Faced with Lin Han, who lacked a sense of security at this time, Aili was somewhat helpless. Since he had such a crazy performance, he had to bear the consequences. Just like Jordan and Shaq, they also worried about what would happen after their crazy performances. In the end, they faced many setbacks, which had nothing to do with their abilities but was a process of psychological maturation. Even Jordan faced the Pistons, and Shaq faced the other three centers. After being dominated, they didn't fall apart; they became even stronger.

Lin Han's fear of failure and losing everything he had now was a sign of his immaturity. No one could truly help him; he had to overcome this shadow on his own.

After the game against the Suns, Barkley's post-game threats, the block in the game, and the increased expectations after being elevated to a star status made it hard for Lin Han to adapt. This made the Jazz player feel a lack of security and a sense of unreality.

But the Jazz's games wouldn't change because of Lin Han's emotional changes.

After defeating the Suns on November 25, on November 27, the Jazz faced the 5-5 Denver Nuggets at home. This team, led by Mutombo, was extremely young. Whether it was Mutombo, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, LaPhonso Ellis, or Bryant Stith, these key players were all third or second-year players. Even the starting forward Rodney Rogers was a rookie this year. The team's coach, Dan Issel, was also a new coach. The former Nuggets legend had a record of 36-46 last season, which was neither good nor bad. Or rather, the Nuggets' strength was just that. This young team, with Mutombo as the defensive core, could beat anyone when they played well, but they were recently dominated by the Suns by over 30 points. Such a team was destined to have limited achievements, as their 5-5 record after 10 games showed. In the league, this team was not to be underestimated, but it was only a playoff team.

In this situation, as long as the Jazz didn't make mistakes in this home game, they wouldn't lose. Especially with the Jazz on a ten-game winning streak, the team's momentum was high. In this game, the visiting Nuggets hardly had any chance. Although the final score was 113-101, the Jazz didn't dominate the Nuggets by over 30 points like the Suns did, but it was still a significant victory.

In this game, Malone overcame the issue of unstable shooting at the beginning of the season due to Lin Han's arrival and found his touch, scoring 39 points on 15-of-24 shooting, the highest in the game. As for Lin Han, the struggling rookie, he didn't have the terrible shooting from the previous few games. He scored 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting, mostly from beyond the three-point line. Lin Han seemed to consciously reduce his mid-range shots.

However, after seeing Lin Han's sudden change in this game, although the team achieved an 11-game winning streak, the Jazz's coach Sloan frowned.