Legendary star

Chapter 578
"Rick, isn't the whistle right today?" On June 2004, 6, after two days of rest, the fourth game of the finals started as scheduled, but the game had just started. The assistant coach Lester Connor noticed the abnormality on the field, because the Pacers have been called several times in a row for defensive fouls.

"Today's whistleblowing scale is a bit tight." Rick Carlisle, who was sitting on the bench, frowned, obviously also aware of this problem.

As the home team, it is normal for the Mavericks to have some home whistles. However, compared with the previous games, the scale of whistleblowing in today’s game is obviously much tighter, especially for physical contact. James Bo West had already been called two defensive fouls in a row while defending Nowitzki. Although the referee on duty didn't seem to be too biased towards the Mavericks, this kind of penalty scale is obviously more for the Mavericks. It is beneficial, because the Mavericks' style of play is well known, and their defense is almost the same most of the time, especially the main point guard of the Mavericks, Steve Nash, is basically a loophole that no one can prevent. , The finals were held by the Pacers from beginning to end.The Pacers are different. The Pacers are the team with the third fewest points conceded this season, second only to the Spurs and Pistons, which are known for their defense. The Pacers' defense is also known for their oppression and aggressiveness. The Pacers can win In the first three games, the defense that was two levels higher than the Mavericks was also very important. Therefore, when the referee strengthened the whistle on physical contact, it was tantamount to directly jamming the Pacers' neck. It seems that today's The referee is going to sideline the game.

"Today's game looks like it's going to be mysterious!" Just halfway through the first quarter, Lester Conor already had a pessimistic mood in his heart. Persia made two fouls, Jermaine O'Neal, Tyshawn Prince, and Meng Xu each fouled once. According to this whistle, it is estimated that they will not wait until the fourth quarter begins. The five main players of the Pacers will It was all blown down.

"We were careless." Seeing this, thinking of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's remarks before the game, Rick Carlisle is now a little bit behind the scenes. This year's playoffs, from the game against the Kings , and then to the elimination of the Timberwolves, the Mavericks have always had a "godfather halo", but for the finals, Rick Carlisle can still rest assured. After all, the attention received by the finals is far from the ordinary playoffs. Shang Meng Xu is now the top card of the alliance, and the alliance is now formulating a vigorous "God-making Movement" around Meng Xu.

But now it seems that Rick Carlisle still underestimated David Stern's integrity. In the face of huge interests, everything is not worth mentioning. Can play seven games, sweeping opponents in four games like the Pacers is definitely a result that no one except the Pacers wants to see. Playing one more game in the finals may be tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars in income , and the ratings of this year's finals are indeed a bit low. Except for the first game of the finals, which exceeded 8%, the next two games fell below 6%, because this kind of game without any suspense is very important to many people. For most fans, it is not attractive.

"Shit!" Just as Rick Carlisle was sitting on the sidelines with his chin in his hands and wondering what to think, Lester Conor, who was sitting next to Rick Carlisle, suddenly raged and cursed loudly.

Following Lester Conner's gaze, Jermaine O'Neal, who was called the second defensive foul of the game, was chasing the referee with an innocent face, muttering and explaining something, James Posey was off the court for two fouls just now, and now it's Jermaine O'Neal's turn, one inside and one outside, the two main players of the Pacers are now in a foul crisis, no wonder Rice T-Connell yelled.

"A softie who can only flop." After chasing the referee and explaining that the penalty still could not be changed, Jermaine O'Neal left the field and walked to the bench on the sidelines, but before leaving, Jermaine O'Neal still He cursed at Steve Nash who was already on the free throw line. In the defense just now, Jermaine O'Neal was already very careful, and Jermaine O'Neal also knew that he didn't use any force, but he kept Steve Nash, who had the ball under the basket, flew more than two meters away at the moment of physical contact with Jermaine O'Neal. According to the penalty scale of this game, Jermaine O'Neal simply avoided But this defensive foul.

Under the referee's deliberate help, the situation on the field has completely changed. Faced with this "too strict" whistle-blowing standard, the Pacers hesitated and hesitated when defending, and they were beaten by the Pacers in the first two games. The Mavericks, who were hanging by the opponent, were like a tiger released from the cage today. The Mavericks took a 13-point lead at the end of the first half.

In the case of 5 against 6, the Pacers did not sit still, but launched a wave of counterattacks after the start of the third quarter. Seeing a wave of scoring climax, the Pacers continued to narrow the points between the two sides. Bad, at this time the referee on duty took action again, calling Meng Xu two offensive fouls in a row, and Meng Xu, who was so angry, went to argue with him and was called a technical foul. .

97 to 113, just when countless people were expecting the Pacers to sweep the Mavericks to win the championship and create an undefeated record in the playoffs, the Pacers ushered in a disastrous defeat in the fourth game. The Mavericks scored as many as 16 points, and the Mavericks who won a victory also avoided the fate of being swept.

. . . . . .

"This is the funniest game I've ever seen. We were called 34 fouls in the whole game, and the Mavericks got 48 free throws. If I didn't sit on the sidelines, I would have thought Shaquille O'Neal joined the Mavericks, and we fouled him in the game!"

Rick Carlisle, who lost the fourth game and missed the sweep of the Mavericks and created a record of winning the playoffs, was obviously very excited after the game. Several on-duty referees in this game fired, and Rick Carlisle's last sentence of using foul tactics against O'Neal was obviously a deliberate satire on the old Nelson.

Because of O'Neal's super dominance at the basket, Nelson re-introduced the cardinal's trick against Chamberlain and carried it forward. Then Popovich, Dun Willy and others followed suit, letting Shaq O'Neill's "shark-cutting tactic" was born, and O'Neal, who was tired of "shark-cutting tactic", publicly scolded old Nelson and Popovich as clowns and cowards, especially The old Nelson and O'Neal who were the instigators didn't even have a good face. Last season, the two even scolded each other after the game because the Mavericks slashed O'Neal in the game.

The old Nelson, who was scolded by Rick Carlisle and satirized him, didn't bother with Rick Carlisle, a junior. After all, the Mavericks really got the referee's favor in this game. As a winner, there is no need to go Compete with a loser.

Old Nelson didn't care about Rick Carlisle, which doesn't mean others won't either. Rick Carlisle's anger at the referee was a challenge to the authority of the league in David Stern's view. Therefore, on the second day, the league Rick Carlisle was fined $50000.

(End of this chapter)