God of NBA point guards

Chapter 117 The first round of the playoffs, averaging 45 points per game

"Reggie, they were swept away. Is the green team really that strong? Or are you too weak?"

Zhou Quan came out of the shower and called Reggie Miller to comfort the senior.

"Boy, when you are swept by Jordan, you will know whether he is too strong or you are too weak." Reggie Miller said angrily.

"Ha ha……"

Zhou Quan couldn't help laughing.

Miller said confidently again: "Boy, the strength of our Pacers is steadily improving. Sooner or later, we will become a strong team in the Eastern Conference. I will not show mercy when we meet the Pistons. You kid laugh at me now, and you will cry later."

Soon after, the post-match press conference began.

On the Knicks side, the atmosphere was rather dull.

Ewing and Oakley attended the press conference. The former is currently the darling of New York. Even if his performance is not good, he has not been criticized too much, while the latter has become a blame man.

Even Pat Riley didn't get a good attitude from the reporters.

"Charles, Joe Dumars repeatedly rushed in from your side and caused a lot of damage. Do you think you are a loophole in today's defense?" a reporter asked.

Oakley said with a dark face: "I have tried my best. I brought him down three times, but he still rushed in. I can't make up every time. I think I have tried my best."

"Do you think you were not responsible for tonight's loss?" the reporter asked.

"I said, I have tried my best." Oakley's face darkened even more.

He is in a bad mood, he is not the core, he is not even a star, he is just a coolie power forward, the team loses, you are looking for the star, why are you looking for me?
The next question was from a reporter from the New York Times. He asked: "Coach Riley, we have a super center and the best defense in the league, but why did you let the opponent get the match point at home? Do you think it was caused by your tactical mistakes? Is it something wrong with your command?"

Pat Riley forced a smile on his face, straightened his tie, coughed twice, and then said unhurriedly:

"Gentlemen, there are many reasons for the team to lose, but there is one thing that is not wrong, and that is tactics. The two games we lost to the Pistons were not tactics.

In fact, there is no tactical problem between us and the Pistons. We are too familiar with each other. Both sides understand all tactics and will make timely adjustments. Believe me, I am no worse than coach Chuck Daly. I still have this confidence of. "

"So what do you think went wrong?" the reporter asked.

"line-up."

Pat Riley said without hesitation: "It's the lineup problem. Facing this Pistons team, we have flaws in the lineup."

"Specifically?" the reporter asked again.

Pat Riley smiled and said: "One position, the most critical position, none of us can deal with Iron Fist. I mean all the guards on our bench, none of us can deal with him.

You can compare the data of Mark Jackson and Tekken in these three series, and you will know that I am right. Mark Jackson is weaker than Tekken in terms of both offensive and defensive ends and organization.

The performance of the No. [-] position is very important to us. We are not the Bulls. The Bulls’ organization is Pippen, so the Pistons beat the Bulls. Iron Fist cannot destroy the Bulls’ organization by suppressing opponents, but he can destroy ours by suppressing Mark Jackson. organizational function. "

"Coach Riley, if we are eliminated, will you seek to trade Mark Jackson? Have you ever thought about trading Iron Fist? As far as I know, Iron Fist also came to the Knicks to try out."

The next question was from a reporter from the New York Athletic, who asked a related question.

"At the moment I'm not thinking about trading Mark Jackson."

Pat Riley first told a lie. In the actual season, he had already decided to trade Mark Jackson, and then said:

"For Tekken, I knew him when he was in the NCAA. You know, I was with the Los Angeles Lakers at the time. The Bruins often went to the Lakers' home stadium to play at the Great Western Forum. I watched his games, including ice hockey.

You know what, he actually surprised me because during the NCAA, he didn't show such a strong strength. I mean basketball, not ice hockey. At that time, he didn't show much potential as a point guard.

But now, he blew my mind, and yes, I now think he even has the potential to be a top point guard.

However, it is too difficult to trade him.

He is the future core of the Pistons, and even now he is a big core play in the Pistons. Coach Chuck Daly gave him the greatest degree of freedom.

Even during the two consecutive championships of the Pistons, the assassin only belonged to the core style of play in the Pistons, not the current big core style of Iron Fist.

At the peak of the Assassins, Joe Dumars was by his side. Joe Dumars was also very strong and could attack with the ball, so the Pistons did not set up a big core style of play for him.

Although Iron Fist still has Joe Dumars by his side, it is clear that the Pistons have considered Joe Dumars' age. Joe Dumars is not as important as before on the Pistons court. The shooting guard, rather than the core of the ball, the ball is more concentrated on the Iron Fist.

Let me put it this way, let alone the Pistons, even Tekken himself may not be willing to come to the Knicks in terms of team status. "

Having said that, he added: "Perhaps, the Knicks' attraction to him is only the ball market and commercial value."

When local reporters heard this, they couldn't help but agree with Pat Riley.

The Knicks have Ewing. If Iron Fist comes here, it is absolutely impossible for him to play a big core style of play. Even because of the average offense, it is difficult to become an outside core. He can only become a pure point guard. The real core of the Knicks must It's Patrick Ewing.

For a long time, the NBA has been center-only, and insiders are king. Although Jordan has won a championship as a shooting guard, and the Bulls are also a team-building model with shooting guards as the core, the current achievements of Jordan and the Bulls are far from enough. A habit of thinking that influencing insiders is king.

The next question was from a local reporter, and he asked hopefully, "Coach Riley, what chance do you think the Knicks have to come back?

We can't deal with Iron Fist in the first position. Do you think that the Knicks will be eliminated because of this, and it will become a foregone conclusion? "

Riley said without changing his face: "It's hard to say about the probability, but we still have a home game. I hope we can win it. We will make all the preparations. Now I also have another idea. I hope to deal with Iron Fist in the next game.

As for the foregone conclusion you mentioned, there are many cases of comeback after falling behind [-]-[-] in the first round. We will not give up. That is impossible. There is no foregone conclusion in this world. We still have a lot to do. As long as we advance to the first round, we will reach the Eastern Conference Finals The chances are great. "

Next, several local reporters asked Ewing several questions. Ewing was not good at dealing with reporters, but these few questions were not specifically addressed, and he barely dealt with them.

The next reporter who asked the question was a reporter from the Los Angeles Daily, and he still asked Ewing: "Patrick, in three games, your field goal percentage can barely reach [-]%. This is not the efficiency of a super center at all. Even an average center is more efficient than you, and your shooting percentage is even lower than that of John Selley, the role player you are playing against. What do you think makes your efficiency so low?"

"Damn L.A. Daily!"

Hearing this very sharp question, Ewing cursed secretly, his face darkened by three points, and he began to meditate, thinking about how to ask this question.

Many reporters who are familiar with Ewing also started to do some small actions, such as moving their stiff bodies, exchanging some news with colleagues around them, etc. They knew that Ewing's answer would take some time.

Sure enough, one minute later, when the reporters were getting impatient, Ewing opened his mouth and said, "I'm always double-teamed in the low post. This is the reason why my shooting percentage is not high enough. If my teammates can help me share some pressure, I think I'll score more easily."

"Are you accusing your teammates of not being strong enough?" The reporter responded quickly, and immediately caught Ewing's loopholes and asked.

"No, of course not."

Ewing immediately denied it, his mind was spinning rapidly, and then added: "It's just a tactical reason. My teammates are all great."

"So you think Coach Pat Riley's tactics are wrong?" The reporter asked again.

Pat Riley twitched his face, turned his head to look at Ewing, and smiled.

Ewing's face turned darker, and he added again: "No, I didn't mean that, I mean, um, I mean..."

"Okay, Mr. reporter, you know Patrick's clumsy mouth, he is not good at words."

Pat Riley interrupted Ewing's question and answer, took the topic and said: "Patrick is very important to us, he is the most important one.

His defense is our last gate. With him at the basket, we can always trust him with the back. With his presence, the Knicks will never be defeated by opponents. He is our pressure boat rock. "

"Yes."

"I agree."

This made many media reporters nod their heads.

They are very clear that among the three super centers, Ewing is the most silent one, the one with the least presence, but the hardest one. He sticks to the Knicks' basket every night. It is the last barrier for the Knicks.

Pat Riley continued: "As for his offensive efficiency in these three games, you can't just use statistics as an issue, because our defense is very strong, but the Pistons' defense is definitely not weaker than ours.

Patrick is usually flanked in the low post, sometimes by several people. The Pistons' interior defense is very fierce. He is often brought down, and he bears at least [-]% of the opponent's defensive energy.

But only when he is on the court, he will always be the one we can trust the most.

Patrick is always your first choice when you're facing a strong defense that can't handle the ball.

So, we need to know that his performance is not to be blamed, I think he should be praised, and I hope you feel the same way. "

"Clap clap clap..."

There was warm applause at the scene, and Pat Riley's speech successfully moved the reporters.

Even Ewing was moved. He secretly decided to play hard and work harder in the next game. He wanted to carry the Knicks into the second round.

On the other end, the Pistons, who won the game, were praised by the media.

On the 28th, I didn't go to bed until three o'clock last night, Zhou Quan didn't get up until almost noon, and everyone else was about the same, it happened to be lunch time.

"Tell me, what's the news today?"

At the breakfast table, Zhou Quan asked while cutting a half-cooked, bloody steak.

Darnell Walker shouted a little depressed: "We won the match point, but today the New York media hardly reported it.

The media in other places didn't report much. They reported on Jordan all day long, but he didn't play yesterday. "

Zhou Quan said with a smile: "How could the New York media report our victory? It would be nice to mention it.

And Jordan is currently the super giant touted by the league. The era of Magic Bird is over. He is the signature star who attracts the most attention. The media are only willing to report on him. This is obvious. "

The assassin nodded and said: "No one wants to see our Pistons stand up again, and the media are the same. They only report negative news about us."

Joe Dumars said with a smile: "It's like this. We used to be the public enemy of the league. The bad boy was given to us by the media. They have been promoting this concept."

Zhou Quan said with a smile: "So we still have to rely on ourselves to make it through one after another, to reach the second round, the Eastern Conference finals, and the finals.

When we hoisted the championship trophy, the eyes of the media had to stay on us, because everyone else was eliminated and only us were left. "

"Ha ha……"

The crowd laughed.

This evening, the G3 battle of the four first-round series started.

The Cavaliers lost away and still led the Blue Net with a big score of [-] to [-].

The Blazers lost to the Lakers on the road, 119:121, only lost by two points, and still led the Lakers [-]-[-].

The Jazz also lost away, leading the Clippers [-]-[-].

The Bulls swept the Heat with a score of [-]-[-] and became the third team in the league to advance to the first round.

迈克尔乔丹发威，43分钟30投20中，命中率高达66.7%，18罚16中，轰下了56分5篮板5助攻4抢断2盖帽2失误3犯规的超豪华数据。

Throughout the first round of the series, he averaged 45 points per game, a jaw-dropping statistic.

皮蓬也不甘人下，以52.2%的投篮命中率，轰下了31分8篮板5助攻2盖帽2失误5犯规的数据。

The two shot as high as 53 times, accounting for 61.6% of the team's total shots, but their points accounted for 73.1% of the team's total points.

The shots were mainly concentrated on the two, so the rest of the Bulls did not perform very well. Except for Jordan and Pippen, only BJ scored in double figures.

Zhou Quan and the others mainly watched the Bulls' game. Almost everyone was shocked by the performance of Jordan and Pippen.

Even Zhou Quan had to admire the strength of the two, especially Jordan's scoring explosiveness.

He is not good at offense now, he is only at level 80, and barely enters the second-tier, and his scoring explosiveness is completely out of the question, so he is particularly envious of Jordan's explosive scoring ability.

Without this ability, when the team is behind by a large score, it is difficult to chase points and can only rely on defense to grind slowly.

And if there is this kind of scoring explosive power, when the team falls behind by a large score, there is also the possibility of a comeback, directly smashing the opponent with a wave of high attacks.

According to his understanding, the system's level 90 should be top-notch, so the offense must reach at least the top level of 95 to be able to score explosively. Like Jordan, who is proficient in various offensive skills, he may need a full level.

On the 29th, with the help of NBA officials and Jordan's many sponsors, the media began to praise Jordan's performance last night.

As a result, the sales of MJ's eighth generation exploded, and fans did not have unlimited purchasing power. His sneakers were so popular that it inevitably robbed the sales of other brand shoes.

Zhou Quan is not even an All-Star. Except for Detroit and Los Angeles, the fan base in other cities is almost zero, and his influence is limited.

Under the impact of Jordan, except for Detroit, it can still be maintained. Even in Los Angeles, the sales of his signature sneakers also fell.

That night, the G4 match between the Pistons and the Knicks went on as scheduled.

In the locker room of the home team, Pat Riley is making the final tactical arrangement.

He said to Mark Jackson: "Mark, try not to hit Iron Fist alone today, just give the ball to Patrick, and then use your running and long-range shooting ability to contain Iron Fist, even though it gives him a chance to double-team."

"clear."

Mark Jackson has actually felt the danger, the danger of being traded.

He is very clear that the Knicks and the Pistons are in the East, and the competition is too great. If he can't handle Iron Fist, the Knicks are likely to trade him.

Pat Riley said to Ewing again: "Patrick, I will try to arrange tactics to help you avoid being double-teamed.

At the same time, I will arrange teammates to cover for you. If you are double-teamed, immediately distribute the ball. If the opportunity is not good, don't force it. "

"Okay." Ewing said dullly.

Pat Riley said to McDaniel again: "You have to pay attention to the offensive screen for Patrick, and cut inside when you have the opportunity.

If you get the ball up there, also pay attention to playing with Patrick, he comes out to cover you, you go in, or pass back. "

"clear."

McDaniel nodded.

Pat Riley also told Wilkins Jr. and Oakley to run off the ball on the weak side and screen each other to create open opportunities.

He finally confessed to Mark Jackson again, saying: "Don't single out with Iron Fist on the offensive end, reduce your shots, use your teammates' pick-and-rolls to get rid of him, and then pass or attack."

In the visiting team's locker room, Chuck Daly only asked about the rebounding problem.

The Pistons are stronger than the Knicks in both offense and defense and organizational ability, not much stronger, but always stronger, only rebounding is a weakness.

He is very satisfied with Zhou Quan's growth and current strength. The offense is immature, but the organization has exceeded his expectations for Zhou Quan.

As for defensive ability, he believes that Zhou Quan even has a chance to be selected to the best defensive team, and there are some opportunities for the second team.

At eight o'clock, the starting lineups announced by both sides.

Pistons: John Saley, Dennis Rodman, Orlando Ulrich, Joe Dumars, Joo Kwon

Knicks: Ewing, Charles Oakley, McDaniel, Gerald Wilkins, Mark Jackson

At [-]:[-], the starters started.

"Shh!"

When Zhou Quan made his debut, Madison Square Garden booed more violently than in the previous game. Knicks fans still showed their full support for the home team at the moment when the team was facing elimination.

New York is the largest football market, and there are many Chinese. He wanted to sell more sneakers here, so he waved politely at these fans. The smile on his face made many nearby fans shut their mouths.

"Patrick, it's up to you, kill the piston!"

"Patrick..."

The home team played, and when Ewing made his grand finale appearance, the fans on both sides of the aisle shouted.

Ewing didn't interact with the fans at all, and ran over with his head down, ignoring the hands some fans extended out to give him high fives.

"I prefer Iron Fist, he at least keeps a smile on us, and Patrick just keeps a straight face on us."

"Yes, he never paid any attention to us."

"Those who don't know think this is Tekken's home field."

"If Iron Fist plays well tonight, I think I will applaud him, at least he respects us."

Some dissatisfied fans complained one after another.

(End of this chapter)