Chapter Fifty-Six: Ibaka’s Praise

“Michael, you did a great job.” Frank Vogel patted Wu Rui on the shoulder and continued, “Get some good rest.”

To be honest, Vogel had much more to say, for Wu Rui had performed exceptionally well. Even though Wu Rui was not on the court at this moment, his influence still lingered; with Rudy Gobert off the floor, the Jazz’s interior defense had plummeted, and that was far from good news for Utah. Gobert’s defense was the cornerstone of their entire system.

The young center was well aware of this. Sitting on the bench, he was still dissatisfied about being called for fouls twice in a row during his aerial clashes with Wu Rui.

“This is Orlando, man—this is Orlando!” Gobert took the towel his teammate handed him, his face full of discontent. “If this were Salt Lake City, I’d have another block by now!”

“That kid on the other side would’ve been called for an offensive foul!”

“That last play—he definitely fouled me, that was a reckless charge!”

The more Gobert thought about it, the more frustrated he became, grumbling non-stop on the bench.

But that was the visiting team’s headache. For the Orlando Magic playing at home, this was a tremendous advantage!

What had been Orlando’s greatest issue? Not their defense—they’d held their opponents to fewer than fifty points in the first half, which meant their defense was solid. The real reason they were trailing was their offense; in other words, Salt Lake City’s suffocating defense.

And the heart of that defense was Rudy Gobert, the anchor in the paint!

His forced exit had disrupted the Jazz’s defensive setup and completely unleashed the Magic’s offense, elevating their scoring to a whole new level!

Aaron Gordon ran rampant in the paint with Gobert gone. This natural-born dunker thrilled the crowd at Amway Center in the third quarter with back-to-back alley-oop dunks, drawing waves of gasps and cheers.

“Aaron is our future, my friend—he’s the shining light of Orlando!”

“This season, he’ll be the slam dunk champion!”

Aaron Gordon’s highlight-reel dunks made many Magic fans temporarily forget about Wu Rui’s presence. After all, dunks are the most dazzling form of offense on a basketball court.

On the Jazz side, Gobert’s absence was felt not only on defense. Since last year’s All-Star break, Gobert had become a quietly effective piece of Utah’s offense as well. The team’s offensive efficiency with and without him made this abundantly clear.

As a result, in the latter half of the third quarter, only Gordon Hayward could create effective scoring opportunities on his own; the rest struggled, and the Jazz’s offense stumbled.

“Nikola Vucevic adds two more! With Rudy Gobert out, he’s now the most dangerous big man on the court!”

On the sidelines, the ABC commentator lavished praise on the Magic’s performance. “With this basket, the Orlando Magic have ignited a scoring frenzy at home!”

“At halftime, they were trailing by double digits; now, they’ve cut it to just three!”

With two and a half minutes left in the third quarter, the Magic had racked up their twenty-ninth point of the period, trailing the Jazz just 64 to 67.

Though still behind, the fans at Amway Center were transformed; smiles and laughter replaced the gloom from halftime; the shadows had all but vanished.

Anyone could see that the team in trouble now was the Utah Jazz, who still held the lead.

Leading, yet unable to move forward—this situation left Coach Quin Snyder deeply frustrated. He had thought victory was in the bag, but now everything was reset to the starting line.

Both teams were back at square one!

And all because Gobert had picked up his fourth foul too early, drastically lowering the Jazz’s intensity.

What was even more vexing for Coach Snyder was that the “culprit” behind all of this wasn’t even on the floor, but sitting on the Magic’s bench. Aside from the start of the third quarter, he hadn’t played a single second since!

“Michael, look at Bismack out there—he’s grabbing rebounds with ease!”

Ibaka, who had been subbed off for Biyombo in the latter half of the third quarter, sat down next to Wu Rui. Already in his warmup jacket, he pointed to Biyombo securing another board. “Without Rudy Gobert, he’s the biggest presence in the paint now.”

“Yeah, his rebounding skills are really something to admire. If I remember right, he averages seven or eight boards a game.” Wu Rui smiled as he watched Biyombo’s solid play. “I wonder when I’ll be that good.”

“Hey, Michael, you’ll never play at his level,” Ibaka suddenly grinned. “You’ll surpass him!”

“Just look at the score—we’re playing so much better than in the first half, and it’s all because of you.” Ibaka couldn’t be more pleased with the rookie. “If you hadn’t forced Rudy Gobert into two quick fouls, we wouldn’t be having such an easy time.”

“You know, brother, you broke through their wall. You did something none of us could do.” As he spoke, Ibaka couldn’t help recalling a former teammate. “Michael, do you know who you remind me of?”

“Who?” Wu Rui had been listening intently, caught off guard by the sudden question.

“Russell Westbrook!” Ibaka held up five fingers. “You’re as full of energy as he is, just as sharp—a blade slicing through defenses, fearless, always charging ahead!”

“But, don’t get obsessed with rebounds the way he does,” Ibaka added with a laugh, reminding his young teammate, “Caring too much about stats is never a good thing.”

“All right, Serge, I’ll only grab the boards I should.” Wu Rui scratched his head, embarrassed by Ibaka’s praise.

If it had just been empty flattery, he might not have thought much of it—but to be compared to an MVP-caliber player left Wu Rui genuinely at a loss.

He added, honestly, “But all of this depends on getting playing time.”

Yes, right now, he couldn’t even guarantee his minutes. No matter how much like Westbrook he might be, a Westbrook who couldn’t get on the floor was no Ninja Turtle.

“Young man, look at the sidelines.”