Legendary star

Chapter 464 Incentives

"It's a pity that we lost this game, but there are seven games in the entire series, and the gain or loss of one game doesn't mean anything. Although the Pacers are very strong, it doesn't mean that we have no chance. "At the press conference after the game, Rick Carlisle said with a little regret when he was interviewed by reporters.

It can be said that apart from the results of this game and Stackhouse's continuous defensive misses at the last moment, Rick Carlisle is quite satisfied with other places, and his pre-match arrangements have indeed played a very good role. The only difference is that the Pistons are obviously not as sophisticated as the Pacers in terms of grasping the rhythm of the game and distributing physical strength. In the last few minutes of the game, Artest, who defended Meng Xu, and Stackhouse were faster than the Pacers. Can't run anymore, this is simply fatal to the Pistons, maybe this is the gap in experience in the playoffs.The Pistons, who have been on the fringes of the playoffs all year round, and the Pacers, who have reached the finals many times and won the O'Brien Cup, are very different in this respect. Even if the strengths of the two sides are almost the same, this kind of competition experience can determine the game. The key factor in the final victory.

"Yes, what Rick said is very correct. The gain or loss of a game does not mean anything. For a long series, this is just the beginning. The performance of the Pistons has far exceeded our expectations. This series will definitely be a difficult series.” Contrary to Rick Carlisle, Larry Bird, who was the winner, seemed very low-key, and he was a completely different person from his usual big mouth.Therefore, after Larry Bird finished speaking, the scene of the press conference immediately fell silent. Including Rick Carlisle, everyone at the scene looked at Larry Bird with weird faces. De likes to hit BI, and is good at playing psychological warfare. Now instead of taking advantage of the situation to output a wave, he played a low-key game instead.

Larry Bird smiled and looked at the group of journalists from all walks of life who were bewildered, but he was actually very uneasy right now.Originally after the All-Star Game, Larry Bird was already preparing for the playoffs. He not only consciously adjusted the players' physical and game status, but also let the two veteran players, Reggie Miller and Mutombo, start taking turns. And the playing time of the main players was reduced, but Meng Xu suddenly burst into form. Not only scored 82 points in the game against the Knicks, but also led the team to 18 consecutive victories all the way, which made Larry Bird work hard The adjustment plan made by the bitterness came to an end, and after this wave of winning streak, the state of the Pacers fell into a trough again, and it has not been pulled back until now. If the ABCD level is used to divide the state of each player in the team , except for Mutombo and Reggie Miller, the two old ball ruffians, who are now in the best state of A-level, most of the remaining Pacers players are now C. In the post-game, the state will be gradually adjusted, and when the finals start, the state of the whole team will be adjusted to the best. After all, none of these teams in the East can pose a threat to the Pacers, but now Larry Bird has discovered that, I obviously underestimated this group of ambitious guys, especially Rick Carlisle, my "little brother", I am afraid that he has already planned to give himself a blow in the playoffs, and the Pistons are reversing After playing the Magic, Larry Bird has somewhat of a sense of crisis in his fiery state.

Soon, Larry Bird proved his sense of crisis was correct. On May 2003, 5, the Pacers lost to the Pistons 13 to 103 at home. Compared with the previous game, the Pistons played more methodically. They no longer simply pursued a slow game rhythm and a suffocating defense. Instead, they played against the Pacers after the opening game. , At the end of the first quarter, they led the Pacers by 96 points 36 to 25, and after withstood the Pacers' counterattacks, they saved the lead until the last minute. After defeating the Pacers in the away game, The Pistons also tied the big score of the series to 11-1, won an away Pistons, and unknowingly had an advantage in the series.

After the end of the two home games, the Pacers will take a 1-1 score to visit Detroit, the home of the Devils, which is counted in the entire league, and the two away games against the Pistons.After losing a home game, it means that the Pacers can no longer afford to lose the two away games. If you are not careful, if you lose two away games in a row, the Pacers' trip to the playoffs this season may come to an end. After all, not every team can perform the miracle of a 1-3 reversal.

On the afternoon of May 5th, after the Pacers arrived in Detroit, they plunged into the Palace of Auburn Hills for pre-game adaptive training. Although the current situation seems to be slightly unfavorable for the Pacers, these The Pacers players still had relaxed expressions on their faces.But while they maintained a relaxed attitude, they also obviously lost the high fighting spirit and belief in winning last season. Perhaps for some of them, a championship trophy is enough, but for Meng As far as Xu is concerned, let alone one championship, two or three are far from enough.

"Guys, I know what you are thinking now. We are the defending champions and number one in the regular season." During the break, Meng Xu called all the Pacers players together, as the boss and leader of the team , when the team fell into a disadvantageous situation, and the head coach Larry Bird was very abnormal and did not stand up to instill chicken soup for the team, Meng Xu had to stand up. To be honest, this is still Meng Xu After coming to the Pacers, it was the first time to give a lecture to his teammates. Seeing the teammates standing neatly in front of Meng Xu under the leadership of Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neal, Meng Xu also enjoyed this feeling very much at the moment: "These achievements are not only the glory above our heads, but also a burden that fetters us. Although the strength of the Pistons cannot stop us from moving forward, in front of us are not only the Pistons, but also the Nets and the Lakers. , or the Spurs, they are far stronger than the Pistons, even stronger than us, so each of us has to show 120% of the state to ensure that we can beat every opponent in front of us."

When Meng Xu opened his mouth, the training field became completely silent in an instant. All the Pacers players were listening to Meng Xu's words attentively. Although Meng Xu didn't name anyone, there was nothing to blame in his words What they meant, but after Meng Xu's voice fell, many of the Pacers players in front of Meng Xu lowered their heads in shame.In the previous two games, the entire Pacers team performed unsatisfactorily. None of the two games scored more than 4 points. In terms of rebounds, they were all suppressed by the Pistons, losing 35 rebounds per game to the Pistons. Ben Wallace faced the Pacers' two big insiders and grabbed [-] rebounds in two games.

Seeing the expressions of his teammates in front of him, Meng Xu also showed a satisfied smile. As long as they can realize their mistakes and have a sense of shame, that's fine. A guy like [-], as soon as you criticize him, he jumps out and accuses you, which makes everyone unable to step down.

"Our goal is only one, and that is to defend the title and bring Indiana a second championship trophy, but this is not something I can do alone, or one of you, we are a team, we are As a whole, each of us has to do our part and complete our tasks to ensure that we achieve these goals."

After Meng Xu said these words, the training ground, which was still silent just now, became active again under the leadership of Jamal Tinsley and Jermaine O'Neal.Seeing these teammates full of fighting spirit again, Meng Xu's tense mood finally relaxed.

Mutombo, who was standing with Reggie Miller, couldn't help clapping his hands when he saw the scene in front of him, and shouted twice.As a veteran who has been in the league for more than ten years, although Mutombo joined the Pacers this season, he is different from those young people who are full of ambitions. As he gets older, Mutombo has long since disappeared. The so-called ideal, now there is nothing more than that bit of obsession with the championship.But after this season of fighting side by side, especially after that wave of victories, Mutombo found that his mind was alive again, not only for the obsession of the championship, but also for these side-by-side fights teammates.

"I can finally rest assured now." Larry Bird, who was silently watching all this on the training ground in the player tunnel in the distance, nodded in relief.

Meng Xu is a championship player and a leader who can inspire his teammates by setting an example on the court. However, impassioned speeches and passionate motivation have not always been what Meng Xu is good at. After coming to the Pacers, everything went smoothly.Therefore, Larry Bird is also worried that if one day, the Pacers come after him, a head coach with a different style comes, and without him helping him deal with off-court affairs, Meng Xu may not be able to find a way to deal with it. The way teammates unite around him, even when there are problems within the team, he can't find a suitable way to deal with them.

Well now, all problems seem to be solved. Meng Xu has enough influence on this team and has enough prestige among this group of people. From top to bottom of this team, whether it is Mu Veterans like Tombo and Reggie Miller, or rookies like NN Hilario and Tayshaun Prince, have maintained enough trust in Meng Xu.

Let me say something here. I saw some book friends commenting that I exaggerated Billups. In fact, I didn’t blow Billups. In this book, I played Duncan, O’Neal and Kobe also played McGrady, but he didn't play Billups.In the series where the Pistons reversed the Magic, apart from Big Ben’s outstanding performance, Hamilton and Prince’s successful defense against Tracy McGrady, the most important thing was Billups’ superb performance. In G6 and G7 of the series, Billups 40 points in a game, 37 points in a game, G6 and McGrady's confrontation, the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter of the tiebreaker, and the Pistons scored 11 points out of 9 points, all of which happened in reality.

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(End of this chapter)