The Rest, Only Noise

June 5, 1993, the eve of the finals.

The Knicks practiced as usual, and Louie called the coaching staff to study and discuss the game plan for game 1.

For the Knicks, Portland's image is fragmented.

On the one hand, the Trail Blazers’ dominance in the first half of the regular season was impressive; on the other hand, after Louis grabbed their uncorrectable braids in the second round, they went up and down. They all look like they are iron-headed, and they just want to correct this.

As a result, the losing streak not only lost Jordan's MVP, but also lost home-court advantage in the finals.

The Blazers came to terms with their irreversible flaws around the semifinals.

Then, let go of distractions and focus on amplifying your strengths.

As a result, the Blazers haven't lost since.

Zhao Yuanzheng stood up and said the following situation: "Since the playoffs, the Blazers have averaged a hit rate of 53 per game, ranking first; at the same time, it is worth noting that their turnover rate per game has reached 15, also ranking first; offense The rebound rate is 31, which is only mid-level, but it's worth noting that they have an offensive rebound rate of 35 since the Western Conference finals, which is even higher than ours."

These data clearly outline the style of the pioneers.

The high hit rate shows that their offensive finishing ability is stable, the players have strong personal ability, and the number of turnovers relative to it is the first, which just shows that they are a team that pays attention to passing. At the same time, it also strongly proves that the Blazers are not the team that can be defeated by blocking one of Jordan and Barkley last year.

Then there are several other data.

The free throw percentage is 27, ranking first, and the opponent's field goal percentage is 46.4, which ranks fourth among the playoff teams. Considering their obvious deficiencies on the defensive end, this data is very good; the opponent's turnover rate is 15.1, It is only 0.3 lower than the Knicks, ranking second; the defensive rebounding rate is 70, which is 2 lower than the Knicks, which is also the top two in the league; the opponent's free throw rate is 26, which is the highest among the teams participating in the playoffs, which is also the best. Stats that reflect the Blazers' style of play.

The opponent's free throw rate can directly reflect the strength of on-the-spot confrontation.

The higher the number, the more the team pays attention to physical confrontation on the defensive end.

At the same time, it also proved that they have "confidence" in the opponent's free throw percentage.

They believe that under the high physical confrontation, the opponent cannot maintain a stable free throw shooting rate.

After Zhao Yuanzheng listed these data, the teaching assistants in the conference room looked solemn.

"They looked flawless," Tomjanovich said.

"Compared with us, Portland is more balanced on offense and defense, and there are excellent talents in every position." Thibodeau prepared for this, "However, even so, we still have a clear advantage in the interior. Although Portland has Larry Nance and Adavis Sabonis are two star players, but we have more talent in the paint - Patrick, Sean, Dennis, Kevin, Harold (Yu Tiancan), as long as the game Going into the exhaustion phase, Portland will have problems in the paint faster than we do."

Compared with last year, the Blazers are actually just one more Sabonis.

Just this one Sabonis, can you change the situation that was ravaged by the Knicks' inside line last year?

Obviously not.

Even if the peak Sabonis is here, Ewing is not afraid of him.

And since the playoffs, Kemp, who has continuously beaten top power forwards, and Rodman, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, are terrifying existences for Nance and Clifford Robinson.

Therefore, Thibodeau's insider advantage theory is completely correct.

The inside line will be the life and death line of the game. When the Knicks have almost no advantage in the three positions on the outside line, the advantage that the inside line can obtain will determine the trend of the game.

"Rudy, what's your opinion?"

As far as Tomjanovich could see, he couldn't see further than Thibodeau.

But as the chief assistant coach who has been following Louis for nearly 10 years, if a "me too" feedback would be a price drop, he used reverse thinking to make a hypothesis: "Our inside line does have obvious advantages, but what is in the game? It can happen, if our inside line suddenly loses its threat, how do we hold up the game? What should our bottom line strategy be?"

No one answered the question, and it was best to have the answer to the question raised by himself, otherwise Louis would scold his mother.

"Three-pointers," Tomjanovich said novelly. "If I remember correctly, our perimeter three-pointers are a lot off the second place in terms of quantity and quality."

After all, he looked at Zhao Yuanzheng for evidence.

"That's right." Zhao Yuanzheng nodded and replied.

"The outside line is also our advantage, maybe we can choose to break from here."

Whether Tomjanovich was trying to deal with Louie or really thought the three-pointer was a game breaker, his thinking brought a new direction to everyone.

Louie listened in silence. No one in the room knew the Blazers better than he did.

Because the Blazers were modeled after the Knicks.

And the building of the Knicks was slowly built by Louis with many years of painstaking efforts.

It's like a showdown with your younger self.

Everyone was discussing lively, and the old coach Doug Mo suddenly said: "We shouldn't only see the good side of ourselves."

"Not bad." Zhao Yuanzheng replied, "mj is the best player in the league. Charles Barkley has proved that he can beat Sean and Dennis last year, and now he has joined Isiah Thomas."

Zhao Yuanzheng looked left and right, "Judging from the past war experience, John (Stockton) is likely to be suppressed by Isiah."

Thibodeau also followed the times: "At the same time, Portland's 'Verdun defense' has been honed for a season and has become quite lethal."

The "advantage is mine" atmosphere disappeared, and the pre-war meeting entered a pessimistic atmosphere of "this is still a tick eight".

Lao Mo's so-called downside is not just based on the player's ability.

"Portland's biggest advantage is that no one but Isiah has ever made it. They gathered for a championship and will sacrifice their own personal interests to win a championship. Our players are so proud compared to them "We have won five championships. Even if there is no championship in the future, the existing honors are enough to make the players proud enough to retire. But luckily, I can still see it in the eyes of the players." The hunger for championships, but I haven't seen 'selflessness' from them for a long time, that kind of team atmosphere of everyone for me, I for everyone, has not appeared in our game for a long time."

Lao Mo is very euphemistic, but the reality is even worse.

After five years of competition, Wilson and Ewing's secret battle has entered a stage of open conflict.

And the shadows that the Knicks have hidden under the honor for many years have also surfaced one by one this season.

From changing his name to Mohammad Raouf, to the subsequent press conference accident;

From Sean Kemp's contract extension, to the status quo that most people are dissatisfied with their contracts;

"The Eden Incident" was a flashpoint, exploding the unknown side of the Knicks.

Fans saw the ugly side of the Knicks star player, and Louie saw the crisis that the team was about to collapse.

The bad atmosphere formed by these things has always affected the Knicks.

This is also a question that Louis has been reflecting on in recent days.

He wondered when he had lost control of these things.

But he didn't have an answer, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't find a clue to the point.

He did make mistakes, but there shouldn't have been any fundamental mistakes that would have gotten the Knicks this far.

So why are the Knicks still like this?

The truth frightened him—the Knicks were destined to be like this.

That's why Louie still thinks his Knicks haven't surpassed the Celtics led by Jones.

It is more difficult to conquer the inner demon than to conquer the opponent.

At this time, the Knicks' problems are all on the bright side. If it can be solved, Louis will have solved it long ago.

Lao Mo's worries are right, but raising a problem that cannot be solved will not help them prepare for war.

Louis called off the meeting.

Let them each go away and do their own thing.

After walking out of the conference room, Louis came to the stadium.

Some players are practicing shooting, like Miller.

This year's Miller officially surpassed Dale Ellis as the league's top scorer.

However, in order to become famous like Ellis, it is necessary to play a series of "Boston Children's Nights" like the other party in the 1988 Eastern Conference Finals, and only then have the confidence to claim the first place.

Otherwise, Ellis will become like James from 2016 onwards.

It seems like there are a few guys who play better than him every season, but the king is still the king, and the fans recognize him as number one.

Dissatisfied? So how many champions do you have?

In fact, Ellis is also a piece of Miller's heart.

Miller, one of the Knicks' most consistent players, has few diehard fans.

Everybody likes Wilson, Kemp, Rodman...but no one likes Miller~www.novelmt.com~ because New Yorkers feel that Miller is inferior to his predecessor.

Dale Ellis' performance in the 1988 playoffs left him a permanent spot in New York's pantheon of professional sports.

Miller has never performed like that.

Miller was also a high-profile man, the exact opposite of Ellis' style. Those die-hard fans of Ellis saw his virtue, and they inevitably hated him and turned into black fans.

Yes, in New York, Miller not only has few loyal fans, but also a large number of black fans.

And the head of these black fans is....Spike Lee!

Evil fate!

Miller won 24-20 in a shooting contest with Wilson.

Before he made his 24th, he turned to celebrate before the ball was in.

"Coach, Benj's shooting is incomparable to mine!" Miller said arrogantly.

Wilson just shrugged and smiled wryly, without arguing.

"If you can shoot so accurately in the finals, that's really good."

"Don't worry, coach, isn't it the Portland gang? Benj shot them all last year with three points. This year, it's my turn to show them the strength of the **** of thirds!"

Louie didn't respond to his words.

He believes that Ellis's series of miracles in 1988 are difficult to reproduce, because it not only requires hard power, but also a lot of luck.

Ellis hasn't played that way since.

And none of Miller's legendary moments have come together so closely.

However, Miller's upper limit is higher than Ellis, which is certain, so who can say what will happen in the future.

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