In Van Gundy's office, he was having a heated conversation with Allan Houston.
"Allan, I don't get your thinking here. Why the hell do you insist on jacking up 15 shots a game? You know shot attempts are limited. Your agent already talked to the team, but this ain't happening," Van Gundy said, straight to the point.
Allan Houston shook his head. "Coach, I was getting 15 shots a night back in Detroit. That's what I'm used to."
Van Gundy locked eyes with Houston, staring him down until the shooting guard finally looked away. "Yeah? That was the Pistons. This is the Knicks. We got Ewing here. His shots are the priority."
"I didn't take any of his shots. He put up 20 tonight, more than his season average," Houston argued.
Van Gundy leaned back, getting the picture now. If Houston wasn't taking shots from Ewing, then whose shots was he gunning for? The only other option was the team's second-best scorer—Zhao Dong.
"You looked at the numbers yet? Take tonight's game," Van Gundy said, leaving the comparison unspoken. He knew Houston would understand.
Sure enough, Houston's expression soured. "Zhao was efficient tonight, I'll admit that."
"No, not just efficient—insanely efficient," Van Gundy corrected him. "8-for-12 from the field, 9-for-13 from the line, 25 points. Not just efficient, but straight-up lethal. That's production you can't match from the perimeter."
Houston's face darkened even more. He came to New York expecting to be the second option behind Ewing. He never thought some undrafted rookie would show up and take his spot. It was obvious—the front office and coaching staff had already made their choice. They were all in on Zhao Dong.
So now what? Should he start thinking about leaving?
He could handle playing second fiddle to Ewing, but there was no way in hell he was playing behind a rookie.
The conversation ended on a tense note.
Back in New York
On the 19th, the Knicks flew back to New York.
Up next? The Washington Bullets on the 20th, followed by a brutal overnight flight to Chicago for a back-to-back against the Bulls.
Arriving in New York at noon, Zhao Dong got back to the training facility, and finally—finally—his system gave him a mission. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and checked the details.
God-Level Sniper Mission
Face off against Jordan on the perimeter and drop 50+ points on him with 50% or better shooting.
Block Jordan 3 times, but only get blocked by him once at most.
Steal the ball from Jordan 3 times, but only get picked once.
Do not get knocked down by Jordan, or the mission is canceled.
Dunk on Jordan twice. Do not get dunked on, or the mission is canceled.
Dunk on Jordan once. Do not get dunked on, or the mission is canceled.
Hit Jordan with three flashy moves and hit an early celebration.
Mission Rewards
Complete all objectives → Take everything from Jordan.
Complete any objective → Randomly gain 2 skill or quality points.
Complete objective 7 → Randomly gain 5 skill or quality points.
Complete 4 objectives → Gain Jordan's core strength talent.
Complete 5 objectives → Gain Jordan's turnaround fadeaway.
Complete 6 objectives → Earn a Blank Gold Medal Skill Template.
Zhao Dong's heart skipped a beat when he saw that first reward—taking everything from Jordan?! That was crazy. But he quickly shook his head.
That was just bait. Motivational bullshit.
He knew damn well he wasn't on Jordan's level yet. They played different positions. He wasn't even in a place to challenge MJ directly, and Jordan wasn't gonna randomly start banging inside just to test him.
And let's be real—the next time the system threw a sniper mission against Jordan, the rewards would be way lower. There was no way he'd get everything from Jordan just by winning one matchup.
Looking over the tasks, the first one was damn near impossible. The third one? Stealing the ball from MJ three times? Good luck. The rest? Tough as hell.
But after thinking it over, options 2, 4, and 7 looked doable. He could work with that.
Then, the system dropped another mission on him.
Team Sniper Mission
Lead the team to beat the Bulls.
Reward: 20 random skill or quality points.
"Ah, hell. Ewing, man, don't sell us out again," Zhao Dong muttered.
Every time the system gave him a team sniper mission, it meant Ewing was about to stink up the joint. He'd seen this pattern before. The system wouldn't ask him to take over if Ewing was gonna handle business.
And then—boom. Two more sniper missions.
Hall of Fame Sniper Mission – Dennis Rodman
Snag 10 rebounds over Rodman. If he grabs 13, the mission fails.
Score 40+ on Rodman with 60% shooting.
Do not get ejected if Rodman provokes you.
Dunk on Rodman three times.
Dunk on Rodman once.
Rewards
Complete all 5 objectives → Gain Rodman's rebounding prediction ability.
Zhao Dong exhaled. This one was brutal.
Rodman's rebounding instincts were legendary. That dude read rebounds like a psychic. If Zhao pulled this off, he'd get one of the greatest rebounding skills ever.
Breaking it down:
Task 2? 40 points on Rodman at 60% efficiency? Gonna have to play in the paint for that one.
But if he stays inside? Double-teams are coming. He'd need to pass more.
Dunking on Rodman? Possible, but not easy.
Then came the next one.
Hall of Fame Sniper Mission – Scottie Pippen
Do not get blocked or dunked on by Pippen, or the mission is canceled.
Block Pippen five times.
Hit Pippen with three flashy moves and hit an early celebration.
Rewards
Complete all 3 objectives → Gain Pippen's playmaking ability.
This one was simpler—but still a grind.
If he had to guard Pippen, he'd have to step out to the perimeter, maybe even jack up a couple of threes. That could mess up his efficiency.
Bottom line? None of these missions were easy.
He had to pick his battles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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