*Beep!
When the whistle blew…
Bruce patted his chest, took a deep breath, and resolutely walked towards the court.
He had absolutely no confidence in whether he could hit the game-winning shot.
It was well known that Bruce Lee’s shooting ability wasn’t high.
Recently, his hands had suddenly grown larger, making his shooting even more sluggish.
However, he was determined.
In most cases, Bruce was an obedient son, a smart student, a gentle friend, and a teammate who enjoyed assisting.
But he also had his obsessions.
From childhood to adulthood, whenever a game-winning shot appeared on the court, he would resolutely and tenaciously execute it.
Just like how he resolutely transferred from Harvard to Stanford despite his parents’ strong opposition.
“You’re doomed.” Brooks walked up to Bruce, maintaining his arrogant demeanor: “God wouldn’t let a team whose head coach has given up make it to the tournament.” “I don’t believe in God,” Bruce turned to Brooks.
Brooks sneered: “Arrogant.” Just then, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in Bruce mind: “Automatic detection of contempt.
Consume 1 point of talent energy to activate the former host’s body memory mode?” Bruce hesitated for a moment, then realized: this was very likely Jordan Mode.
He hesitated for half a second on the question of ‘give a man a fish or teach him how to fish,’ ultimately choosing to consume his hard-earned 1 point of talent energy to activate Jordan Mode.
As soon as the thought formed in his mind, he instantly felt a warm current spread from the top of his head downwards, enveloping his body.
Then, Bruce instantly felt an unprecedented physical state; he felt his body was full of energy, as if he were invincible.
Uh… this state seemed to only last for 1 minute.
“Hurry up and inbound the ball!!” Bruce quickly ran to the sidelines and took the basketball from Scott.
As soon as he received the ball, the countdown began, and the Stanford players all ran according to Jamie Lin’s one-on-one play, giving the wide three-point arc position to Bruce to take the final shot.
According to Jamie Lin’s playbook, when Bruce had about 10 seconds left on the clock, he would quickly cut in from the arc.
At this time, Scott and Benson would come up to set screens for him, allowing him to use his speed to directly penetrate into the paint and score.
It was a very good arrangement.
However, Oregon seemed to have anticipated this, and their two inside players tightly guarded Scott and Benson, not giving them any chance to move.
This caused Coach Jamie Lin, standing on the sidelines, to frown deeply.
He looked at Bruce with concern: Could he still penetrate the paint and score under these circumstances?
The Oregon coach, standing nearby, wore a mocking expression.
This seasoned college coach remained calm and confident.
One game was enough for him to see through Stanford’s tactics: their players either lacked ball-handling skills or shooting ability.
In his view, with 22 seconds left, simply blocking player number 10 outside the free-throw line would be enough.
Therefore, he instructed his interior players to closely guard any Stanford players attempting to screen.
He also had Hairston ready to intercept at the free-throw line, believing that with his exquisite defensive setup, Stanford couldn’t possibly pull off a game-winning shot.
The two coaches had different thoughts.
Time, however, ticked away second by second.
Amidst the stunned silence of the entire arena, all players were intensely focused: victory or defeat hinged on this single moment.
Jonny Wallson of Time Warner TV was incessantly counting down.
When he reached the 10-second mark, Bruce remained completely still, steadily performing his unpredictable crossovers.
He seemed utterly unhurried.
Meanwhile, Jamie Lin on the sidelines clenched his fists anxiously, his knuckles cracking: What was Bruce doing?
Time was running out; was he planning to end the game with a single shot?
Or had he forgotten about the time?
Just as he was considering whether to call out to remind him, Bruce suddenly took a step forward.
His movements were like a cheetah’s pounce, incredibly swift and seemingly effortless.
Brooks was almost instantly beaten half a step, quickly turning to chase.
But he was already a beat too late.
At this moment, Hairston quickly released Thompson, rushing to help defend.
He attempted to use his physical strength to lock down Bruce.
However, Bruce suddenly stopped in front of him, then quickly changed direction, shifting his position from left to right, continuing his inside drive.
Hairston quickly turned to defend, but just as he took a step, Bruce stopped abruptly, pulled the ball back from in front of him, adjusted his stance between his legs, stepped back, and leaped backward, releasing the ball with unparalleled grace at the peak of his jump!
The entire movement was fluid and seamless.
Hairston had barely finished adjusting his defensive stance the instant Bruce released the shot.
The beautiful and perfect stop-and-step backward fadeaway jumper drew gasps of amazement from the crowd.
As the ball reached its highest point, the lights behind the backboard turned red, and the electronic buzzer sounded urgently.
And Bruce… at that very moment, he raised his hands high.
Swish!
The basketball pierced the net with pinpoint accuracy in less than half a second!
The scoreboard updated almost simultaneously.
79:78!
A game-winning shot!!!
Stanford Arena erupted in a frenzy of excited shouts, like a volcanic eruption, the sounds seemingly rising from the earth!
That was so satisfying!
A perfect game-winner!
An unforgettable performance.
The arrogant Oregon Ducks, your tournament journey is over.
Bruce li, the hero of the victory, was tossed high into the air, and the Stanford players could no longer contain their joy.
They had created a miracle in the most unexpected way, achieving this legendary victory.
Meanwhile, the proud Brooks, head bowed, just like their coach… their expressions shifted from disbelief to utter dejection, and finally, they walked away from the sea of joy, heads hanging low.
“Oregon lost???” Jonny Walson muttered dejectedly in the broadcast booth.
This was completely beyond his expectations; he had always believed Oregon had the victory in the bag.
But tonight, the relatively unknown Stanford number 10 player became the biggest winner.
His name would be sung throughout California along with this game.
And at that moment, Time Warner replayed Bruce’s game-winning goal.
This once again elicited gasps from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and gasps of admiration from countless viewers in front of their televisions.
This goal irresistibly reminded them of one person: the Bulls’ number 23 who had dominated the 90s.
“Bruce’s game-winning shot is exactly like Michael Jordan’s game-winning shot against the Jazz.
I’ve never seen anyone imitate Michael Jordan to such an extent; they’re practically identical,” Abdul-Jabbar exclaimed.
His exclamation resonated perfectly with the television viewers.
The slow-motion replay clearly proved… it was indeed a Jordan-esque game-winner.