God of NBA point guards

Chapter 149 Michael, you can't get rid of him when you run without the ball

On the sidelines, David Stern of Viewpoint smiled and said to Bill Davidson: "Bill, your team has great hope of completing the rebuild."

"But I still need your support."

Davidson also responded with a smile and said meaningfully.

Stern nodded with a smile, but didn't take up the conversation.

He knew what Davidson meant, and he hoped that he would stop targeting the Pistons.

The rules for malicious fouls introduced the year before last were aimed at the Pistons.

The result of the target was very strong, it immediately broke the legs of the Bad Boys, making it impossible for the Bad Boys who won two consecutive championships to complete the three consecutive championships, and was even swept away by Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals, directly destroying the mighty Bad Boys .

To be honest, he appreciates Zhou Quan, the new core of the Pistons.

This is a young man who ended the Bad Boys Legion with his own hands. He has a big heart and a strong will, and his style of play is not as dirty as that of the Bad Boys Legion. He will not interfere with Zhou Quan's development.

Judging from Zhou Quan's current strength, his performance is so strong in the first season, there must be room for improvement, and he has the opportunity to become Jordan's strong opponent in the future, and this is what he hopes to see.

The only thing is that he hopes to get Zhou Quan to the west.

But this idea is very difficult to implement, and it is more likely to get O'Neal to the West, which he can control.

Based on the above reasons, that is to say, he will not target Zhou Quan's team.

But he won't say this to the Pistons.

"Phil, I'm going to keep playing."

On the bench, Jordan said to Phil Jackson.

Phil Jackson nodded. He has great confidence in Jordan's physical fitness. He has never seen anyone in this league with stronger physical fitness than Jordan, not even anyone close to him.

He immediately said to Jordan: "If Iron Fist keeps up and continues to fight, it will wear down his physical fitness. If he doesn't go up, use this opportunity to chase points."

Jordan nodded, that's exactly what he intended.

After the two of them said this, they were suddenly taken aback.

At the same time, they also thought that the biggest threat to the Pistons is not the former FMVP Joe Dumars, let alone the assassin sitting on the bench, but the new core Zhou Quan.

That is to say, Zhou Quan, who is still a rookie, has grown enough to threaten the Bulls.

Phil Jackson said thoughtfully: "The five main players of the Pistons, Joe Dumars is 29 years old and still at his peak, Rodman is 31 years old and is still at his peak, John Sely is 28 years old, Ulrich is the oldest, At the age of 33, their main lineup can be used for at most two years, and then they will definitely enter the downward channel.

As for their bench lineup, Mark Aguirre and Isiah Thomas are no good, and they are only average now, and they will be even worse next season.

In general, the Pistons lineup is not a lineup with rising strength, but a lineup that is gradually aging and declining. Their reconstruction has not yet been completed.

Even if there is a new core, even if Zhou Quan's growth can be expected, he is useless alone. You were so strong back then, and you couldn't move the Bulls.

And it is very difficult to build a championship-level lineup. We spent many years. They don't have a few years, and it is impossible to assemble a championship-level lineup.

When Joe Dumars and Rodman are old, more and more people need to be replaced, and they need suitable players and a matching lineup. They even need many years to build a lineup for Zhou Quan. During Zhou Quan's entire peak period, it was impossible.

The reconstruction of a team is likely to be in the foreseeable future, so as long as we win them this time, there is a high probability that we can win them in the next few years. Their threat to us will only become smaller and smaller. With the growth of Zhou Quan, he became stronger. "

Michael Jordan nodded thoughtfully after hearing these words, thinking that what Phil Jackson said made sense.

After Phil Jackson said these words, the timeout was almost over, and the referee blew his whistle to signal the players from both sides to enter the field.

"This guy really played again."

Sitting on the bench, Zhou Quan couldn't help admiring Jordan's physical ability when he saw Jordan standing up again.

But he can't follow up. He lost in the second half of the last game and was defeated in the final quarter. He has to save his energy for the final quarter.

There are Assassins and Mark Aguirre on the bench. As long as they can play well, they should be able to buy time for him and Joe Dumars to rest.

On the court, Jordan faced the assassins.

Enemies meet head-to-head, but it is not a situation where the tip of the needle meets the wheat.

The former has reached the peak state from spirit to body, from willpower to game experience, while the latter has been declining due to injuries since 90. In the regular season, he was injured more and more due to the battle of Auburn Hills. The current state is completely different from Jordan. One level, even worse than one grade.

So the pairing of the two is a situation where Jordan crushes the assassins, crushing Isiah Thomas unilaterally from both ends of the offense and defense.

In fact, there is no need for assassins to defend Jordan. His height is lower than Zhou Quan. It is more suitable for Mark Aguirre to defend, but they are rivals, so the assassins directly switch defenses and defend Jordan in person. He was blown up by Jordan on both offense and defense.

The assassin broke through the attack with the ball three times in a row, was blocked once, and missed twice, and Jordan scored three goals in a row on his head. His anger immediately became hotter, and his physical contact with the latter became more and more bigger.

"brush!"

In the 6th minute, Jordan knocked down the assassin with an emergency stop jumper, and then made a shot, 35:35, to tie the score.

This was his fifth goal in the second quarter. He made 7 of 5 shots on the assassin's head, plus 2 of 2 free throws. The team scored 15 points in the half quarter, and he scored 12 points alone.

The assassin made 5 of 1 shots, only 2 points and 1 assist, and two turnovers.

In just half a quarter, Jordan used a powerful offense to help the team even out the point difference.

This drove the assassin into a hurry. In the next defense, he stretched out his legs and tripped Jordan, who was holding the ball and breaking through. Then the two immediately clashed.

David Stern's face was ugly, and he felt that Zhou Quan's replacement of Isiah Thomas as the new core of the Pistons was the most correct decision made by the management.

At the same time, he also felt that preventing Isiah Thomas from joining the national team last time was also the most correct decision.

The conflict quickly subsided, just shoved, did not rise to the level of boxing, and then the Pistons called a timeout.

"Haha, as I said just now, Michael will definitely adjust his state soon. I was right, Michael fired all his firepower, and Isiah Thomas was beaten to pieces. He can only defend Michael with his legs." Ringer Wilson laughed excitedly.

Robert Jeddah nodded and said: "Michael made 18 of 19 shots in 10 minutes, and his shooting percentage increased to 52.6%. In addition, he made 4 of 4 free throws and scored 24 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. The performance was strong. After the second quarter, it was in sharp contrast with the first quarter.

However, with so many shots in one and a half quarters, his physical energy consumption is also quite large. The Pistons will definitely let the main players play. Next, he should reduce his shots and focus on the defensive end. "

Ringo Wilson said with a smile: "In the past, the media thought that the Pistons' bench lineup was quite strong. The Assassins and Mark Aguirre should have the strength to help the main players fill in the holes, but now it seems that the main players are helping them fill in the holes."

Robert Jeddah nodded and said: "The main reason is that the Assassin's strength has declined a bit seriously, and injuries are tormenting him. Whether it is breakthrough speed or agility, he has another obvious decline compared to last year, and his shooting touch is even worse. , can no longer talk about efficiency.”

Ringo Wilson didn't answer this sentence, because the reason why the Assassins are in such a poor state now is that Grant's knee was injured in the Battle of Auburn Hills, which is an important reason.

With 6 minutes left in the second quarter, the Pistons sent all their main players to fight.

Zhou Quan still defended Jordan, and the strange thing is that Jordan's luck became bad again. After the timeout, he missed two shots in a row, and the Pistons took the opportunity to lead the score again.

Jordan shot 21 times in less than two quarters. This is a crazy number of shots, accounting for more than [-]% of the team's shots. The physical energy consumption is very large. After feeling cold, he chose to stop.

Phil Jackson replaced Jordan when the ball was dead, replaced Pippen, and the rest were four substitutes, and told Pippen to try his best to hold the Pistons and bite the score in the next 4 minutes.

As soon as Jordan went, Pippen switched to defend Zhou Quan, but Zhou Quan still used the old method to get rid of Pippen through the pick-and-roll, and then moved in a wide range, not giving Pippen a chance to come back to him.

From the start to 2 minutes before the end of the second quarter, a total of 4 minutes, Zhou Quan led the main lineup to play a 10-4 attack wave, 39:45, once again overtook the score and stopped the Bulls, Phil Jackson once again Jordan was replaced on the field.

In the last 2 minutes, the two sides focused on defense, and Jordan didn't make a shot, focusing on defense, and the second quarter ended soon.

41:47.The Pistons still led by 6 points at halftime at home.

Ringer Wilson said: "Michael played 22 minutes, made 21 of 10 shots, and shot 47.6%. He was still the best player in the game."

罗伯特吉达说道：“铁拳次节6分钟，3投2中，全部是突破上篮的进攻方式，加上2罚2中，得6分1篮板2助攻1抢断，两节18分钟，9投6中，命中率达到了66.7%，拿到了14分4篮板7助攻3抢断1失误1犯规的数据。

He is 10 points behind Michael in scoring, but his offensive efficiency is much better than Michael's today, which is very rare for him.

In addition, his performance in other aspects is also good, especially the performance of organization and assists is very good. I think his performance today is not weaker than Jordan.It was his performance that allowed the Pistons to lead the Bulls. "

Zhou Quan returned to the locker room and immediately asked the masseur to massage him to relax his muscles and relieve his fatigue.

In today's game, the Pistons actually have no way out. If they lose again, the Bulls will get the match point, and they lost both home games. It was a game he couldn't lose and he wanted to win it.

"Zhou, how's your physical fitness?"

Chuck Daly stood aside and asked.

He is very clear about the weaknesses of the current team's lineup. Last season, the team lost vigor and pursuit. Just like him, it was like a sunset that was about to go down.

And this season, because of Iron Fist, the vigor has recovered a lot, but it still has the unavoidable weakness of the championship lineup and the veteran lineup, that is, even if the vigor can be stimulated for a while, it is actually the sunset, and the quality has not changed.

The current Pistons team is pointing to the growth of Zhou Quan, and then slowly building a lineup.

Now that the team can score with the ball, he mainly counts on Joe Dumars and Zhou Quan, and the other three main players are eating cakes.

Among the two, Zhou Quan is now more threatening than Joe Dumars. The Bulls cannot double-team Joe Dumars, but they may double-team Zhou Quan. He mainly counts on Zhou Quan's performance.

"It's okay." Zhou Quan said.

Chuck Daly thought for a while and said: "In the third quarter, you still have to have a rest time. It happens that we have a 6-point advantage.

I arrange for you to play 8 to 9 minutes first, plus the break between periods, you will have at least 4 to 5 minutes of rest. "

"OK."

Zhou Quan replied.

Daly added: "You defended Jordan very well today. Although you only had one steal against him, it lowered his shooting percentage. This is the most successful defense. You also defend him in the final quarter. As long as you defend him, We can beat the Bulls."

Zhou Quan said modestly: "The main reason is that his hand feeling is so-so today."

Chuck Daly shook his head and smiled: "The reason why his shooting percentage is not high enough must be related to your defense, that's for sure.

Even if he can use the pick-and-roll to temporarily throw you off and get the chance to catch the ball, but because the offensive time is running out, he will face the situation of being double-teamed immediately after receiving the ball, and the shot will not be very calm, which will definitely affect hit rate. "

Zhou Quan nodded, thinking that Jordan's state today could also be explained in this way.

After 15 minutes, the third quarter began.

Zhou Quan played for 8 minutes and was replaced.

In this quarter, he didn't make many shots. He was accumulating physical energy for the final quarter, mainly defending Jordan, and then creating opportunities for his teammates on the offensive end. He sent 8 assists again in 3 minutes, and the audience has already sent 10 assists.

Jordan took 21 shots in the first half, so even if the team fell behind, he didn't take many shots in the third quarter. He took 8 shots in 5 minutes and hit 2 goals.

When Zhou Quan left the field, at 56:65, the Pistons had already led by 9 points, but after he left, Jordan began to chase points.

Through strong offense and defense, Jordan stole the assassin again, and within 4 minutes, he made 5 of 3 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 8 points in a row. :10, the Bulls are only 4 points behind.

Robert Guida said: "Iron Fist's defense today is really strong, Jordan has to use the pick-and-roll if he wants to catch the ball, otherwise he can't get rid of him.

Every time he plays against him today, Jordan's efficiency will drop significantly. This can no longer be explained by the touch, it is caused by his defense. "

Ringo Wilson immediately retorted: "Jordan's efficiency today is average, and it may not necessarily be the result of Iron Fist's defense. I think there is still a problem with his touch."

Robert Jeddah smiled and said: "Let me list a statistic. Today, Michael Jordan made 19 of 7 shots and only 36.9% of his field goals during the matchup with Tekken.

And when he faced other people, he made 12 of 8 shots and his shooting percentage was as high as 66.7%, which can prove that it was because of Tekken's defense that his efficiency dropped sharply. "

"this?"

With the data in front of him, Ringo Wilson had nothing to say, and it was unscientific.

Robert Guida said with a smile: "Before the Pistons used Joe Dumars to defend Jordan, if they used iron fists to defend Jordan, the big score might not be 1:2, maybe it would be 2:1."

Ringo Wilson retorted again: "It should be impossible, and the Pistons may not win today, it depends on the performance in the final quarter.

You must know that Michael's usual performance in the last quarter is enough to turn the game around, not to mention that there is only a three-point gap, and now it can only be said that the game is tied.

And it's only three quarters, it doesn't mean that Iron Fist can continue to limit Michael's performance. "

罗伯特吉达点头道：“乔丹打了34分钟，到目前为止已经31投15中，命中率又提升到了48.4%，6罚6中，得到36分5篮板3助攻2抢断1失误2犯规，其实整体效率依然强大无比。

铁拳打了26分钟，10投6中，第三节没有得分，14分7篮板10助攻3抢断1失误2犯规的数据。

From the analysis of his playing time, he must be preparing for the final quarter, so I think the two sides will definitely have a fierce battle in the final quarter.

Based on the analysis of Jordan's defensive performance against the Iron Fist today, as long as the Iron Fist has enough physical fitness, I don't think the Bulls will have a greater chance of winning. "

Ringer Wilson said with a smile: "I still insist that the Bulls can win the Eastern Conference finals point, and Michael will definitely play a dazzling performance in the final quarter."

On the Bulls bench, Jordan took over a statistics sheet.

"19 for 7?"

He was very astonished, his hit rate against Iron Fist today?Got it wrong?
"Michael, you can't shake him off the ball."

First came to a conclusion that Jordan didn't like very much, and Phil Jackson said very seriously: "And I found a problem. When you enter the penalty area, it is easier for him to catch up. Your choice of not entering the paint area is right. of."

When he said this, he was actually very disturbed.

Because passing through the dense penalty area is the best way to get rid of the defender, Jordan often passes through the penalty area from one wing to the other wing, and after getting rid of the defender, he shoots very well.

However, under the marking of Iron Fist today, this method of getting rid of the defender is no longer possible. On the contrary, after entering the penalty area, it is easier to be caught up.

Like Jordan, he doesn't understand why Iron Fist has such an ability, but the fact is there, and he must face it squarely and find a way to solve it.

He continued: "But the current situation is also very troublesome, because you also have to use the pick-and-roll on the wing to get rid of him, but in this way, our triangle offense can't be played."

Jordan nodded, ignoring his anger.

He knew that what Phil Jackson said was right, because he used Grant's pick-and-roll, and now the triangle offense really can't be played.

Of course, the triangle offense also has offensive screens. When cutting in from the outside line, low post players can come out to do pick-and-rolls, or do pick-and-rolls between outside lines.

If he plays a pick-and-roll with John Paxson when he cuts outside, Paxson’s tonnage and strength are not enough, and the pick-and-roll effect is not good, Iron Fist will forcefully squeeze Paxson away, keep up with him in time, and cut off the skin between him and the strong side ball holder The connection between Peng and Peng still prevented him from receiving the ball.

And when he tried to do a pick-and-roll with Grant while cutting inside, Rodman and Iron Fist would immediately switch defenses, still making it difficult for him to catch the ball.

So in the end, his choice today is to use the small space after the disassembly to complete the catch, and then shoot immediately.

That is to say, in the end, his shot was actually forced to make a hasty shot, and the tactical coordination had little effect, not to mention the triangular tactics that created singles opportunities for him.

Phil Jackson said: "To change this passive situation, if we can't change it, we have to be as passive as today in the next game."

He also felt a headache. He didn't expect Iron Fist to defend Jordan so well.

Although the final defense was the cooperation of Iron Fist and Rodman to finally limit Michael, but in the final analysis, it was caused by Michael's inability to completely shake off Iron Fist.

But he is not a master of on-the-spot response, and he can't come up with a good solution now, he just said: "Let me think about it."

Running out of time, Jordan asked anxiously, "How to do it?"

Scratching his head, Phil Jackson pretended to think calmly in order to calm his mind, and then said, "We'll do it this way, first you will play singles with the ball on the outside, and the others will pull away. You will explode the iron fist first."

Jordan was taken aback, isn't this not playing triangle tactics?

Before Phil Jackson came to the Bulls, he has been fighting alone. No matter how strong his personal ability is, he loses more and wins less. As a result, he was swept by Bird in the first round of the playoffs twice. If there is no triangle strategy, he has no confidence. can win.

Especially after winning the championship last year, his trust in Phil Jackson is very high, and his confidence in the triangle tactic is even greater. Now that the triangle tactic is not used and he is allowed to fight alone, the Pistons are the strongest defensive team in the league. , stronger than a bull, can it work?

Phil Jackson seemed to see what Jordan was thinking, and quickly explained: "You play singles with the ball outside, which is not contradictory to the triangle tactics. Our triangle position is still the same as before. You can choose to play by yourself or pass the ball. .

The only difference is that you have changed from playing without the ball to playing with the ball, but this is not contradictory to the triangle tactics. It just transfers part of Scottie's organizational functions to you, which will increase your burden. "

Speaking of this, he said to others: "Your running and standing positions are the same, and you can't deviate from the tactical requirements."

"Yes." Everyone replied.

Jordan still doesn't understand, but he can only try it first, and there is no time for him to discuss it with Phil Jackson.

In fact, what he didn't know was that Phil Jackson just couldn't find a better tactic for the time being, so he could only play like this first, using his strong individual singles ability to hold on first.

……

(End of this chapter)