From South China Tiger to NBA King

Chapter 253 Cole’s sophistry, the game begins.

The Internet is full of accusations against the Warriors, and there is also ridicule of the Warriors.

People were either insulting Green or making fun of Durant.

But they all have one thing in common, that is, everyone feels that the Warriors are finished and they are useless.

Even many Celtic players think so.

In such a public opinion environment, two days passed quickly.

After two days of rest, the fifth game will be held as scheduled on June 6 at the North Shore Garden Arena in Boston.

Jiang Hu drove his sports car to the North Shore Garden Arena.

Boston generally has no traffic jams. It is not like Los Angeles or BJ Shanghai. It is a big city, but it is not an international metropolis. It does not have a particularly large number of foreigners and tourists.

But today there was a traffic jam. In the past, the distance from Jianghu's home to the arena was usually only about 10 minutes, but this time it took half an hour. There was a lot more traffic on the road than before.

There were also many fans gathered at the entrance of the venue, all with joy on their faces. Most of these fans were wearing Jianghu jerseys or the jerseys of Celtics legends Paul Pierce and Garnett.

Celtics fans were extremely satisfied with the Celtics' two games in San Francisco. Although they lost one game, it was still a surprise for them.

In the eyes of Boston fans, this year's team is full of young people. They are here to learn from the insidious Warriors. As long as they are not swept, they will be happy if they can win two or three games.

They themselves did not expect that in the past four games, the Celtics were able to win an unprecedented three games, while the Warriors only won one.

If they beat the Warriors again tonight, they will almost be able to win the 18th championship trophy in team history at home. This makes them hard-core Celtics fans to be unhappy.

Inside the North Shore Garden Arena, Zhang Weiping and Yu Jia, along with CCTV staff, were preparing for a live broadcast.

Coming to Boston for live broadcast is a top priority for CCTV Sports Channel.

CCTV is fully aware of Jianghu's current strength. Because of Jianghu's existence, there are too many fans paying attention to Celtics games.

After Yao Ming retired, there hasn't been such a grand occasion for a long time. Even the Jianghu games attracted more attention than Yao Ming's time. Watching Jianghu games has become a daily routine for the people.

Chinese fans came to the United States to watch the show if they could. Even if a front-row ticket originally worth 3000 US dollars was sold to 8 to 1 US dollars by scalpers, they did not hesitate, and claimed:

“What kind of Chinese are they who travel to the United States and don’t come to Boston to watch the Jianghu competition? They have no sense of national honor at all!!!”

If you can't buy tickets inside the stadium, you still have to come to the venue, because there is also a live broadcast on the big screen outside the North Shore Garden Arena. Fans can enjoy the heroic figures of Jianghu on the big screen while listening to the cheers of the audience inside. Although the atmosphere of watching the game is not as good as It's not as good as going directly into the venue, but it's much better than in front of the TV.

In China, major movie theaters have signed an agreement with Tencent to broadcast live games in theaters at the right time and sell tickets for the games, making a lot of money. Even some commercial plazas, such as Qianda Plaza and Jintaicheng, will also Show the Jianghu game on the big screen to attract people passing by to stop and watch the game.

As for those office workers who cannot go abroad or go to movie theaters and squares, they will hide in the toilet to watch the game during working hours. Even primary and secondary schools and kindergartens will organize students to watch the game.

The high school cafeteria has once again become the favorite place for students. They watch Jianghu's competition while eating, have heated discussions, and cheer for Jianghu with wanton roars.

The youth of those born in the 80s and 90s and those born in the 00s seem to have some overlap at this moment.

In addition, Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association and the last person to represent the Chinese basketball flag, also came to the North Shore Garden Arena today.

Yao Ming is now very popular. He is not only an NBA legend, but also a political figure as the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association, so he has also received extremely high standards of reception.

Boston president Danny Ainge, current NBA president Adam Silver, and even the mayor of Boston sat next to Yao Ming and watched the game with the retired superstar.

Before the game, Yao Ming also accepted an interview with domestic media: "Playing in the playoffs is not as difficult as it was during my time. I am very happy. It only took him one year to reach a height that his predecessors have not reached in decades. .”

"His journey has been quite smooth. The team almost always wins cleanly, and his personal data is also quite good."

"This has something to do with his strength. Although he is not yet 20 years old, he has become one of the strongest players in the entire league. This shows that he has been training very diligently since he was a child."

"And his playing is very entertaining. This enjoyment has made some fans who no longer pay attention to NBA games fall in love with watching Jianghu games again. This is also a major contribution he has made."

"The Jianghu competition has given fans a renewed sense of expectation for the NBA, and more people love basketball games. This is a good thing for the long-term development of Chinese basketball."

The data mentioned by Yao Ming are all facts.

According to official statistics released by CCTV, after the Boston Celtics entered the playoffs, CCTV's ratings hit new highs on every Celtics game day.

The ratings of the sports channel have hit record highs repeatedly during this period, ranking second among all TV programs in the country, second only to the news program broadcast on time at [-] o'clock every night.

One thing you need to know is that most of Jianghu's games are in the morning, but it can become the second highest-rated program in the country. This shows how enthusiastic fans are for his games.

After the CCTV live broadcast team came to the North Shore Garden, they could clearly feel the respect they received from their peers and Celtic staff.

Interviews, workplaces, etc. were all given the green light.

Zhang Weiping also made an appointment with Jianghu for an exclusive interview after the finals.

Zhang Weiping was quite familiar with Jianghu, but the two of them didn't have much contact in private, so he didn't know what Jianghu's answers were to many questions, and he also had a lot of expectations for this.

............................................................

Stevens trotted to the pre-game press conference, where Warriors head coach Kerr had been standing here waiting for a while.

This time, the league directly asked the head coaches of the two teams to be interviewed together before the game. Cole looked at Stevens and felt a crazy fighting spirit in his heart. The young man in front of him, who was less than 40 years old, actually repeatedly It made him suffer, even losing three of his first four games.

Cole also understands that the Celtics' tactics are not that complicated, they just try to get the ball to Jianghu or Irving, and the role of the head coach is not that big.

But this is the perception of insiders. Outsiders don't think so. Fans and media mostly only look at the results.

In the past four games, the Celtics have won three and the Warriors have won only one, so Coach Stevens' formation and control of the team are better than Cole's.

Fans feel: Cole leads a lineup that seems to be outstanding in the entire league and cannot win. It is extremely inferior.

In addition to the criticism of Warriors players in the past two days, there has also been a lot of criticism of Cole on the Internet, which makes Cole feel even more stressed.

After Stevens took his seat, the press conference began.

"I am a reporter from ESPN. I would like to ask Coach Steve, after you fell behind by a big score, you had a fierce argument with the players. It seems that your locker room has completely lost control. In this case, what should the Warriors do? Are you ready to lose the championship?"

"As far as I know, the Celtics have revealed that they are very eager to end the series at home and then have Russell present the FMVP trophy at the North Shore Garden."

"Have you decided how to face this team with high morale?"

A question from an ESPN reporter pushed the atmosphere to a climax.Stevens was smiling next to him, not losing his momentum. Although he did not directly say in interviews these days that he would end the Warriors at home, what he meant in a roundabout way was exactly what he meant. That’s really what I thought.

Imagine that the Celtics' legends present the FMVP trophy to their new generation of superstars at home. This moment is not only a legacy between players, but also a dynasty renaissance.

The new team leader seriously told the old leader: "Old guy, in my hands, this team will not be weaker than you, it will only be more brilliant than in the hands of an old guy like you!!"

The old guy smiled and said: "I hope everything you said is true, kid, I've been watching you!!"

This is such an inspiring picture. Although Stevens has not been with the Celtics for a long time, he still can't help but burst into tears when he thinks about this scene, not to mention those who support the Celtics. What about old fans? ?
Cole picked up the phone and said seriously:

"First of all, I need to clarify that there has never been internal strife in our team. KD and Green just had some quarrels."

"In highly competitive games, it is easy for us to become dissatisfied with our teammates. This is normal. Michael and I once had quarrels and even got physical during training!!"

"But in the end we buried the hatchet and won the championship together, didn't we??"

"Jordan and Pippen also had fierce quarrels, and Kobe and O'Neal even fought for a few years, but they won 9 championships together, didn't they?"

"The reason why this happened to us is because we are all players who want to win, just like me and Michael, we have such a strong competitive mentality that it leads to quarrels, and the same goes for Drummond and Kevin. , they just want to win the game and have no other thoughts."

"After the quarrel, our goal has not changed. It is still the championship. This goal will allow all of us to put aside our grudges and focus on the game!!"

"As for the twists and turns on the road to victory, there will always be twists and turns, right?"

"If a person's success has always been smooth sailing, then he is not called success but going with the flow!!"

“Only success that has experienced setbacks and difficulties is real success. Only that kind of success can make people experience the joy and beauty of success, right??”

Cole's eloquence is so good.

His sophistry almost made all the reporters speechless. It felt like what Cole said sounded true. The reason for their quarrel was because the buzzer-beater failed because Green did not pass the ball to Durant. .

Are there really no problems within the Warriors? ?

Not at all.

The current atmosphere in the Warriors is quite strange. Durant and Green have not communicated since the quarrel. The two are in the same locker room and the same training ground, but there is no communication.

Curry and Iguodala respectively advised Green and Durant to speak first to settle their differences, but neither of them was willing to speak first.

But the two still cooperate with each other during training. Green may feel that his words are too harsh and feel guilty. He even passes and picks and rolls to Durant more actively than before.

For the sake of the championship, Green is willing to make some sacrifices, but unfortunately, it is impossible for him to apologize.

For the arrogant Durant, it is absolutely impossible for him to take the initiative to speak without Green apologizing.

This weird atmosphere has lasted for several days. Cole saw it and felt that it was no big deal. As long as he didn't refuse to play, there was no big problem.

Seeing everyone thinking, Cole continued:

"I know the Celtics really want to beat us. It's not just them. Many teams have wanted to beat us in the past few years, but we don't give up so easily. There is no word "give up" in the Warriors' dictionary. All of us Everyone is ready to fight with all their strength!!”

Although Cole feels very depressed about the losses in the past few games, he knows very well that it is not that easy for the Celtics to beat them.

As a coach with 73 wins and 2 championships, he still has some confidence.

"We're going to win this night."

"I'm sorry that Mr. Russell may not have the opportunity to award the Celtics players here. He will fly back to San Francisco with us in the next game, and then come back here in the next game, and finally he will be here to honor the players of our team. Awards!!”

Cole said confidently while holding the microphone.

Stevens laughed and said nothing.

Although Stevens likes to talk, he doesn't like to argue with Cole in person.

This argument seems to lower his level.

He also doesn't believe what Cole said about Green and Durant having no problems. No one would believe that.

He imagined that if Jiang Hu and Owen had such a quarrel, the final result would be that one of the two would have to leave, and that person would definitely be Owen.

He will be packed away by Anji without hesitation.

So after listening to Cole's tirade, Stevens picked up the microphone and said with a smile: "Sorry, I need to go back and lay out tactics to achieve my goal."

After saying this, Stevens nodded politely to Cole and left.

Stevens knew leaving the game would cost the league some fines, but he didn't care.

Celtics locker room interior.

The crowd was telling some colorful jokes, and then Stevens came in.

After Stevens came in, the atmosphere was more or less awkward.

He didn't mind. After looking at Jiang Hu and Irving, he clapped his hands and said, "I don't want to emphasize anything in this game."

"Everyone should be well aware of the opponent's desire to play tonight."

"They have no way out!"

"We cannot take it lightly and everyone must stay focused on the game."

“I hope tonight will be the same as the past two home games and win!!”

"Let Boston fans enjoy this basketball feast."

"My goal is to win the championship, and I hope we can do it this time."

"If the two MVPs still lose the championship, then they will be nailed to the pillar of shame, and this will become our honor!!!"

(End of this chapter)