Chapter 242 1 to 1

The Pacers had the best record in the Eastern Conference this season, but were eliminated by the Bulls in the second round. Reggie Miller was simmering with anger. When he saw this report, he immediately got angry and threw the fish on his back. pole.

"I have never envied Michael Jordan. I didn't envy him before, and I don't envy him now. His era has passed, and now he is just a group guy who just wants to show his presence in the new era."

Facing the media, he said with great disdain.

After mocking Jordan, he fired at Zhao Dong: "As for the guy in New York, he is just a guy who is good at violence. I don't bother to comment."

At this point, the reporter reminded: "Reggie, don't you say a few words about Rodman?"

"Who is he?" Reggie Miller said disdainfully.

"Sooner or later I'll be blown away by them."

In the villa, Zhao Dong put down the New York Times in his hand and said to Lindsay: "In order to win, can I still retain my strength? Are Jordan and Ewing fake? I even used the strength to feed myself. Suddenly My legs almost cramped by the end.”

"Get off the court and shoot a jump shot. Don't rush in anymore. Be careful of getting injured. You fell several times last night." Lindsay smiled.

"I wanted to beat Ewing and Rodman, but unfortunately they were too slippery to hold on," Zhao Dong said.

"What is the strength of the Bulls? Are they sure of winning?" Lindsay asked.

"Of course there is, but it certainly can't be fought like this one. It's too strenuous."

Zhao Dong thought for a while and said: "I'd better try in the low post. They can only use Ewing to defend me and beat him directly on both offense and defense."

After continuing to rest in the morning, Zhao Dong rushed to the team's training base at noon to attend a tactical meeting. There was also a training session in the afternoon.

When he arrived at the training base, his car was blocked by media reporters.

"Feilong, do you have anything to say about what Reggie Miller said? He said you were a violent person and he was dismissive of you."

a reporter asked loudly.

"Reggie Miller with a big mouth? Haha, he's a weakling who only knows how to shoot jump shots. I don't want to judge him." Zhao Dong laughed.

at the same time,

In the hotel, Jordan was found by reporters.

"Reggie Miller? How dare he say that to me?"

Like an emperor who was provoked by his subjects, Jordan angrily said: "We just eliminated the Pacers four to one. It seems that next year we need to sweep the Pacers to make him shut up."

At the tactical meeting, Zhao Dong suggested that he prepare to play in the low post. Nelson also realized that without low post attack, there would be no containment on the outside. This is also the reason why the efficiency of the outside in the G1 battle was so poor, because the inside was completely unable to attract the Bulls. team's defense, so he agreed.

After training in the afternoon, a team training match was organized to practice tactics.

Mainly Zhao Dong's low post tactics, supporting tactics of outside movement, etc.

Old Nelson talked with Larry Johnson and planned to let him play more in the substitute lineup in the G2 game. Apart from Zhao Dong, he is the only one in the Knicks who has low-post offensive ability, so he is also the focus of the training game.

"Ouch!"

While fighting for a rebound, Larry Johnson and Danny Fortson competed together, and then the former was knocked to the ground and couldn't get up.

"Damn it, Danny, can't you move more slowly?" Larry Johnson cursed, holding his left ankle.

"I've got it under control," Fordson said in frustration.

"Larry, is something wrong?" Zhao Dong asked.

"I'm afraid it won't work. The joints hurt." Larry Johnson said frustratedly.

Zhao Dong shook his head helplessly, stepped aside and let the team doctor handle it.

Larry Johnson averaged 15 points per game, the team's third scoring point, and a very important point in the bench lineup. If we don't count Zhao Dong, he is the first scoring point inside. Losing him is still very serious and further weakens the Knicks. Sri Lanka's inside offensive ability.

The team doctor checked it, shook his head and said, "It's sprained. I probably won't be able to participate in tomorrow's game."

Soon, an ice bucket was obtained and Larry Johnson began soaking his feet to prevent the joints from swelling.

"Don't get injured again." Old Nelson muttered.

"Misfortunes never come singly!" Zhao Dong heard this and responded smoothly.

Fortunately, there were no further problems in the following training matches.

But this incident made Neil Grant think about getting rid of Danny Fortson.

Fordson still has a lot of fouls, which affects his playing time. He can only average about 24 minutes per game.

Although it seems to have grabbed a lot of rebounds, overall, the contribution value of the ball given away by fouls is not high, which can be called useless.

Between Ben and Fordson, he is more optimistic about Ben now.

That night, the G2 game of the Western Conference Finals began. The Jazz's black and white teams played bravely, winning consecutive home games and gaining a big advantage.

But in this game, the Lakers only lost by 3 points, and the winner was decided in the end.

The Postman, who lost the game and scored 30+ points, was even happier. Facing the media after the game, he shouted excitedly: "Finals, we are here!"

The media has also made speculations about the Western Conference Finals, and it is generally believed that the Lakers will be eliminated.

The next day, the 22nd, the G2 game of the Eastern Conference Finals began.

In this game, Zhao Dong returned to the low post. He defeated Ewing on both offense and defense, but the Knicks lost the game.

94:90, lost by 4 points.

In the first quarter, Zhao Dong went all out to attack and defended Ewing, who made 1 of 5 shots. The Knicks led by 9 points. If Jordan hadn't been full of firepower, he would have almost defeated the Bulls in the first quarter.

But in the second quarter, Danny Fordson was irritated by Rodman's trash talk. He fouled repeatedly and received a technical foul. He gave away a lot of the ball. The team was affected and was held back by 7 points.

In the third quarter, Fordson was completely angered by Rodman in the fourth minute. He punched Rodman in the face and was ejected directly.

But Fordson's end actually had little impact on the Knicks. Ben, Zhao Dong, and Oakley teamed up to still have an advantage in rebounding, and the interior defense was not weakened.

The reason why the Knicks lost was because they lost on the outside.

On the outside, whether defensive or offensive, they lost.

In the G1 game, Zhao Dong failed to defend Jordan alone, but in that game, the Bulls' offense was not concentrated in Jordan's hands alone.

In the G2 game, because Zhao Dong guarded Ewing to death, and the inside line blocked the Bulls' outside attack on the paint area, the Bulls were forced to concentrate all their shots in Jordan's hands, while the Knicks' outside line could not guard Jordan. , the aging Jordan scored 50+ points, and Cole played brilliantly in the final quarter, hitting three consecutive three-pointers, being blown away from the outside, and ultimately lost the game.

The two teams battled to a one-to-one draw, followed by the Bulls' three home games.

After this game, the New York media began to bombard Nelson, thinking that he was not as good as last season's rookie Van Gundy.

The New York Times: "Although Van Gundy is a rookie, he has a principle. He can hand over all offenses to Feilong, and even give the command of the field to Feilong, so he won a championship.

But Nelson wouldn't. He insisted on inefficient offense from the outside and could not give up, so he lost the G2 game. "

New York Sports News: "The Dragons were equally efficient last night, making 18 of 25 shots, a hit rate of 72%, and scored 41 points with free throws, but Nelson gave too many offensive opportunities to the outside.

Although the outside offensive efficiency in the G2 game was much improved compared to the G1 game, reaching a hit rate of 41%, it was far less efficient than Feilong. This was the most important reason for losing the game. "

New York Business News: "The most important reason for the defeat is that Nelson placed Feilong in a low position, which caused Feilong to lose his most terrifying impact."

Zhao Dong also had his own thoughts about the defeat in the game.

The analysis of the New York media is of course nonsense. There is no outside attack at all. If the outside offense is not open, don't all the Bulls players have to pounce on him?

The real reasons for the failure were fouls, turnovers and free throws, as well as Larry Johnson's absence, which resulted in a lack of offensive firepower in the bench.

There were too many foul errors, which squandered the advantage in rebounding. Then, in terms of free throws, the Knicks were overall inaccurate last night, making a total of 18 of 29 free throws, which was just 60% of the field goal percentage.

The same goes for him himself. He made all 13 free throws in the G1 game, but only made 5 of 9 free throws in the G2 game, which was below his standard.

As long as he made a few more free throws last night, he would have won this game.

There is also the issue of passing the ball.

Nelson emphasized to him the importance of passing the ball in double teams, and he did it last night. He took fewer shots in double teams, but lost the game.

This is not only the coach's problem, but also his problem. There is no best balance between organizing his teammates' offense and his own offense.

Billups also has this problem now, and he didn't expect that he would also have such a problem.

I remember that Lindsay talked to him last time about whether there was a chance to average a triple-double in the regular season. His attitude was that if you can do it by yourself, you should do it by yourself.

But last night, he didn't handle this problem well. When he was double-teamed, he passed some balls that he could hit by himself as required by the coach.

At noon on the 23rd, the Knicks and Bulls arrived in Chicago one after another.

After resting in the afternoon, the Knicks held a tactical meeting in the hotel in the evening.

Nelson and the coaching staff had discussed it for a long time in advance and came up with some plans, but Zhao Dong's cooperation was still needed.

In the last game, Zhao Dong was in the low post, his efficiency was similar to the G1 game, but his lethality was less.

Because in the G1 game, he mostly directly hit the basket, while in the G2 game, although he was in the low post, the number of hits to the basket was less, and most of them were low-post jump shots, so the lethality was less.

But this is normal, because without such a long impact distance, his impact power is not enough.

Once he hits the basket in the low post, he has no strong impact to support him, and there are not enough open spaces in the low post, so he can easily get caught in a double-team.

Even a terrifying creature in the paint like O'Neal must rely on hooks and small throws to resolve battles in most cases. Zhao Dong, with his height, is certainly no exception.

If you enter the basket every time to create strong damage, the physical energy consumption during double-teaming will be greater than directly attacking the paint area from the outside.

Old Nelson said: "In this game of Feilong, I am going to let you switch from the inside and outside to strengthen the changes in offensive tactics and make it more difficult for the Bulls to defend."

Zhao Dong said it was no problem. He played in the low post and outside with the same efficiency, but each had its own characteristics and benefits.

The outside impact is powerful, the lethality is greater, and the organization is better at the same time.

The low-post damage is slightly smaller and the organizational ability is limited, but it can compress the opponent's defense and create more opportunities for the outside. At the same time, it can also avoid the restrictions of the Flying Dragon Law.

Old Nelson added: "With your outside impact, neither Ewing nor Rodman dared to defend directly, and Jordan couldn't guard against your first step. The advantage is too great, and we must make good use of it to cause damage to them. In the G3 game, I You are allowed to take unlimited shots, whether you pass the ball or hit it yourself is up to you."

"Okay, I understand." Zhao Dong nodded.

"Defensively..."

Old Nelson continued: "This time we are on the defensive end, Feilong plays against Ewing, and John Starks plays against Jordan."

When it comes to defense, Van Gundy said at this time: "Feilong, even though Ewing was restricted by you in the G2 game and only scored 13 points, he still has gas in the tank, so we must guard against him.

In addition, you must also guard against the Bulls' outside breakthroughs. You must try to reduce their success rate. Try to use your mobility to cover more defensive areas and suppress their outside. "

"I understand." Zhao Dong said.

Van Gundy added another sentence, saying: "I have observed that Ewing's condition is not as good as in the G1 game, and his movements are a little slower. After all, his knees are not good anymore. No matter how hard he stays in the regular season, he will not last long. time."

Having said this, he said to Big Ben: "Ben, you must guard the basket this time, and when grabbing rebounds with Rodman, you must pay attention to your position. In addition, don't be affected by his little moves and trash talk. Once you are angered by him, his status in the league is far greater than yours, and the penalty will be very detrimental to you."

"I understand, coach." Ben nodded quickly.

At this time, Old Neil looked at Danny Fortson again and warned: "Danny, you must control your fouls. In the G2 game, you not only committed five fouls, but also made four turnovers. All the ball rights you grabbed were all It’s too bad it’s given away.”

"I remember." Fordson said frustratedly.

Nelson shook his head, trained him for a season, and even asked Feilong to be his sparring partner. Fordson's performance in the playoffs was still not good enough, which made him very disappointed.

In the latter part of the regular season, Fordson has gotten better, but he didn't expect that now in the Eastern Conference Finals, he has returned to his old ways. Maybe it's because the competition is more intense. Had Fordson been better last night, the game would not have been won.

After playing two games, he has a good idea of ​​the Bulls' strength. Ewing broke out once and rested last night. The Bulls' strength is not worthy of the title of Super Bulls. The Knicks have no hope of reaching the finals. Small.

After the tactical meeting, I returned to the room and watched the G3 game between the Jazz and the Lakers.

In this game, the Jazz played away from home and finally showed their fatigue and were defeated by the Lakers.

When it was almost 11 o'clock, Zhao Dong turned off the lights and went to sleep. Then he was constantly disturbed and was still not asleep by one o'clock.

"Take, take, take..."

At this time there was a knock on the door again.

"Oh, it's the fifth time, it's never over!"

The person sleeping in the same room as Zhao Dong was Hu Weidong, who said angrily at this time.

"What the hell!"

Zhao Dong called Grant again and asked him to come over and drive people away.

This was the fifth time in two hours that a call girl came to his door. Not only they were harassed, but others were also harassed. If Bulls fans hadn't colluded with the hotel to arrange it, Zhao Dong would never believe it.

Not long after, Grant, who looked tired, drove away the girl with two staff members, and then said to Zhao Dong and Zhao Dong:

"From now on, I will lead people to guard here. You can sleep peacefully."

But the sleep clock had been affected, and it was unknown when Zhao Dong fell asleep.

"Damn bull!"

Grant led two staff members to drink coffee in the corridor, cursing bulls and yawning.

He is now focusing not only on the playoffs, but also on the formation of the lineup for next season.

The agents of several people on the team have contacted him and want to leave next season. Some want to leave for free at the end of their contracts, and some want to leave via trade.

This is also a common problem among championship teams. People whose contracts are over hope to go to another team to get a better contract, and people who want to trade away hope to find more opportunities in other teams.

One of his goals now is the Bulls.

The Bulls' internal discord is known throughout the league. This season, Ewing was traded, and Rodman was added, all of whom are veterans. Such a lineup cannot be maintained for long. With Jerry Krause's character and ability, the season is over. This team will most likely be dismantled later.

His plan is to trade Danny Fortson for Tracy McGrady.

Rodman is old, the Bulls must be looking for the next big thing, and Fordson has such potential, this is a good opportunity.

Of course, it would be better if we could get Kidd, but there shouldn't be a chance.

When Zhao Dong woke up, it was already ten o'clock in the morning.

Although I slept for a few hours, I still yawned after getting up.

The same goes for other players. During breakfast, all of them were low on energy and yawned one after another.

The coaching staff discussed and canceled the afternoon training and allowed the players to continue to rest.

This undoubtedly disrupted the Knicks' work schedule and training plan, and his mentality was also affected.

At 6 p.m., after dinner, the team arrived at the United Center.

There were no fans entering the stadium for the time being. Nelson led the team to the stadium and took the time to warm up and recover.

He had some bad feelings about this game.

"Bang bang bang..."

Sure enough, the players' shots kept hitting the basket.

When it was almost seven o'clock, when he returned to the locker room, Nelson said: "Everyone, listen, tonight you have to get close to the basket before shooting, don't make wild shots outside, do you understand?"

"Understood." Everyone replied.

At this time, several media were allowed inside for interviews.

"Zhao Dong, how sure are you of winning G3?" Zhang Lili asked.

"One hundred percent."

Zhao Dong looked strange and replied without blinking.

"Ha ha……"

The other reporters laughed.

Zhang Lili shook his head helplessly and laughed. He did ask a nonsense question, because Zhao Dong always had only one official answer to such a question.

At half past seven, fans entered the venue.

Lindsay and the Knicks’ wives also began to enter the court, including Dayao and Barkley.

At eight o'clock, the first announcement will be made.

Knicks: Ben Wallace, Oakley, Alan Houston, Zhao Dong, John Starks.

Bulls: Ewing, Rodman, McGrady, Jordan, Kidd.