The NBA Finals of the 93/94 season were later called by many “the bloody and brutal Finals,” because in this grueling seven-game series, not a single game saw a score break 100, with the highest single-game score being 93 points...

　　Aside from providing the pleasant sound of bricks clanging off the rim, the players from both teams engaged in wrestling-like battles in the paint, making the fights incredibly fierce...

　　“As expected, practicing pull-up jumpers was the right choice...” Watching the scenes on TV, William Sullivan swore that before the Hand-Check rule turned into No-Hand-Check, he would absolutely never set foot in the paint...

　　Driving to the basket was impossible; he could only rely on pull-up jumpers and bricking shots to barely get by. People who could shoot pull-ups always sounded so nice, and William Sullivan absolutely loved pull-up jumpers...

　　As everyone knows, the reason for the high defensive intensity in the NBA during this period was inseparable from the Hand-Check rule.

　　Simply put, this rule allowed you to put your hand on the offensive player while defending, which meant that unless perimeter players had some real tricks up their sleeves, it was basically impossible for them to shine.

　　Because your drives would be severely limited by the defender. For example, under the Hand-Check rule, the difficulty of breaking through on offense was roughly double that under the No-Hand-Check rule...

　　Why did Boss Jordan work so hard on his shooting in the latter part of his career, perfecting his mid-range and turnaround fadeaways?

　　It was precisely because shooting was the perimeter offensive method least affected by the Hand-Check rule.

　　After all, when you catch the ball, you just shoot, just pull up, just turn around—the defender often doesn’t even have time to get a hand up.

　　In William Sullivan’s previous life, many people parroted the idea that the reason people didn’t like shooting threes in the 90s was because of the Hand-Check rule...

　　But actually, that’s a misleading statement for newbies.

　　In reality, not long after, when the NBA shortened the three-point line, just watch and see if teams started shooting threes.

　　You know, during that period, even Boss Jordan took a bunch of threes for fun...

　　To put it bluntly, at this time, the three-point shot was a new rule that had only recently been introduced to the league, and everyone was still quite resistant to it.

　　Take Larry Bird, for example—even Bird himself didn’t really like the three-point shot, because players at the time felt that threes were just for showboating.

　　It’s like if the NBA added a four-point shot tomorrow, a lot of teams would definitely need some time to adapt to the new rule.

　　Even up until the Warriors won their first championship in William Sullivan’s previous life, many experts before the Finals still believed that a team that only shot jumpers couldn’t go far.

　　So, the real reason people didn’t like shooting threes in the 90s was mainly due to differences in the mindset of the era. It’s like if you traveled back and told your buddies in the 90s that in the future you could go out without carrying cash, just your phone, they’d think you were crazy...

　　People at this time just didn’t accept new things as quickly as people would in the future internet age.

　　Of course, no matter what, the Hand-Check rule was definitely a killer for perimeter players during this period...

　　“People in the 90s... were just too brutal!” William Sullivan exclaimed.

Chapter 8: William Sullivan Seriously Learns the Skills

　　Even though he already knew the plot in advance, when watching the 1994 Finals at Kobe Bryant’s house, William Sullivan still found it incredibly thrilling.

　　Maybe it was because he was tired of watching run-and-gun basketball in the future, but William Sullivan felt that these bloody, physical battles of the 90s were actually pretty exciting...

　　Just imagine, the mighty Olajuwon weaving his way through the muscle-packed Knicks’ paint, and just when people thought the Dream was fighting alone, he seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Facing the equally tough Ewing, who was battling him tooth and nail, the Dream didn’t flinch, rose to the challenge, and after scoring, it was truly a moment that left everyone speechless...

　　“Su, your defensive stance still isn’t low enough, and you need to learn to anticipate Kobe Bryant’s offensive intentions.”

　　These days, besides watching the Finals with Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s father Joe Smith would occasionally give pointers to both Kobe Bryant and William Sullivan during their training.

　　William Sullivan felt...

　　That aside from his brick-laying skills, he would definitely become a defensive specialist in the future.

　　Especially in one-on-one defense.

　　“You two always playing one-on-one isn’t enough. Now that summer vacation is here, get ready—I’m going to train you by NBA player standards.”

　　As a former NBA player, Joe Smith was very confident in his training methods.

　　But...

　　“Su, don’t listen to him. His training methods are so outdated that I don’t even break a sweat after finishing them...”

　　Kobe Bryant seemed quite dissatisfied with his father’s training intensity.

　　‘Are you two really father and son?’ William Sullivan thought to himself.

　　But jokes aside, to be fair, William Sullivan didn’t think Joe Smith’s training was as bad as Kobe Bryant made it out to be.

　　In fact, for William Sullivan, what he needed most right now was exactly the kind of systematic training that Joe Smith arranged.

　　Because just playing one-on-one with Kobe Bryant all the time, William Sullivan was racking up brick points, but to really improve his abilities, he needed systematic training to digest it all.

　　In William Sullivan’s view, the reason Kobe Bryant complained about Joe Smith’s training was probably because of Kobe Bryant’s own insanely strict training standards.

　　“Let’s be clear—you still have to train with me after you finish my dad’s routine. Otherwise, you’ll never improve.” Seeing William Sullivan so absorbed in his father’s systematic training, Kobe Bryant said a little unhappily.