On the 25th, at 7:30 pm, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Hornets: Kenny Gatizon, Larry Johnson, John Newman, Kendall Gill, Bogues
Pistons: John Salley, Dennis Rodman, Orlando Ulrich, Joe Dumars, Zhou Quan
Not only was this game not broadcast live across the United States, it was not even broadcast live on Charlotte TV, with only two on-site commentators responsible for commentary.
There were only 40 to 50 percent fans in the auditorium, and the tickets were as cheap as a few dollars. The atmosphere in the arena was so cold that it couldn't even bring out the cheerleading team's dance.
In this area, the NCAA is the world, and the NBA has no market at all. This is also the most important reason why the Hornets will move to New Orleans in the future.
In the players tunnel, the starters are waiting to play.
Zhou Quan also stood opposite Larry Johnson, one with a straight face and the other with a smile.
"Auntie, don't you say hello? We are in the same year." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
Larry Johnson rolled his eyes and managed to say, "Hey."
Zhou Quan laughed and said, "It's too perfunctory."
"Leave me alone?"
Larry Johnson said unhappily.
Now the league favors Iron Fist, and everyone can see it. He hit the Postman, then Oakley, and even Big Dream. There was no official punishment at all. He can't suppress Iron Fist in terms of statistics now, and he is likely to be selected for the best rookie. Being in a disadvantageous position made him feel aggrieved and dissatisfied.
There is also a sneaker contract. He actually has a Converse contract. The nickname Auntie came from filming his own sneaker commercial. He was very excited about getting this contract, but when Zhou Quan's contract came out, there was a big stir. Feeling of loss, my contract suddenly became unsatisfactory.
One is because his sneakers are named sneakers, not real signature sneakers.
The so-called branded sneakers just bear his name. A sneaker will not be specially developed for him, and it is not his brand.
Second, the amount is too different. He is only a quarter of Zhou Quan, which is not much better than the best cash contract.
The only thing that can comfort him is that Zhou Quan's contract is difficult to complete because there are additional conditions.
Because of this, he wanted to win the Rookie of the Year and would not allow Zhou Quan to complete the additional conditions and prevent him from getting the next three years of the contract.
Zhou Quan smiled and said no more.
He could tell that this guy didn't like him. The two were now competing for the best rookie and were direct competitors.
When the team played, the fans here were too lazy to boo the visiting team, and the atmosphere was still not good.
Zhou Quan warmed up on the court for a few minutes. When he returned to the bench, a little boy who was at most three years old ran in front of him, opened his little hands and pounced on Hornets player Dell Curry, shouting daddy.
"Dell, your son is very well-behaved." Zhou Quan complimented him in passing.
Dell Curry picked up little Curry, with a warm smile on his face. He nodded to Zhou Quan and said, "Thank you! Come on, Stephen, call An Kou."
"Ankou."
Curry shouted obediently.
"good!"
Zhou Quan smiled and touched Xiao Kuli's head.
At eight o'clock, the game officially begins.
There are reasons why the Hornets' defense is last in the Eastern Conference and second to last in the league. One of them is that they have no height inside.
Larry Johnson's official height is 198 centimeters, but he may actually be only 192 centimeters tall. He has natural defensive flaws.
The main center Kenny Gatizon is just a role player, especially the height is only 203 centimeters, which is still the height of shoes, and the weight is only 102 kilograms. There is really no one available inside the Hornets, so he can take the position of the main center.
John Salley and Kenny Gadison jumped the ball and easily helped the team get the ball.
The second reason why the Hornets' defense is so poor is that the point guard is too short, the shortest in league history. Muggsy Bogues is only 160 centimeters tall and weighs only 65 kilograms.
Boggs is also called Xiao Chong. Because of his height, anyone can get a mismatch advantage in front of him. This point of his will always be targeted by his opponents.
Although he is flexible and fast, his finishing ability after rushing in is also limited by his height, so he does not take many shots and mainly assists.
His assist-to-turnover ratio ranks first in the league, exceeding 4.5, because almost no one can steal his ball and he makes very few mistakes, which is an advantage due to his height.
In general, he has the capital to survive in the league. This season, he averaged 8.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.9 turnovers per game. His ability is still good, but the disadvantage of his height is far greater than the advantage.
Zhou Quan came to the frontcourt with the ball, and just as he made a tactical gesture, Boggs took the opportunity to suddenly rush up to steal.
Fortunately, he has studied this little mouse-like opponent and is good at stealing. Even Jordan was intercepted by him, so he reacted in time, turned around and dribbled past people, avoiding the steal and completing the breakthrough at the same time.
He passed the top of the arc and reached the free throw line in two steps. After forcing Larry Johnson to come out, he made an emergency stop at the free throw line.
Just when Zhou Quan broke through, Ulrich followed his tactical requirements and implemented an inside-cutting tactic on the left wing. John Salley immediately pulled out, taking Kenny Gadison out while making a pick-and-roll to block After passing John Newman, Ulrich took the opportunity to cut to the basket.
At this time, Zhou Quan had already reached the free throw line and pulled Larry Johnson up from the basket. The Hornets' basket was already empty.
Zhou Quan made a sudden stop and suddenly slammed the ball into Larry Johnson's crotch.
"Shet!"
Larry Johnson was startled, his legs instinctively clamped, and his hands covered the key triangle area.
"boom!"
But he didn't touch the ball. The ball hit the floor and passed through his crotch.
"Damn it!"
Being crotched, Larry Johnson was so angry that he quickly turned around and saw Ulrich rushing into the paint from the left waist, catching the rebound ball, and then rising up.
"boom!"
With a one-handed dunk, the Hornets basket was exploded.
"Larry, don't worry, I won't hurt you." Zhou Quan said with a pleasant smile.
"roll!"
Larry Johnson said angrily.
"Attack, let's fight one."
He rushed over to pick up the ball, shouted loudly, and retreated to the baseline to prepare to serve.
"Return to defense!"
Zhou Quan retreated quickly.
He had no intention of pressing Boggs full court, that was the stupidest idea.
Boggs took the ball and advanced quickly. When he saw Zhou Quan standing in the middle of the frontcourt, he had no intention of avoiding and went straight to Zhou Quan.
When he got in front of Zhou Quan, he kept stopping, lowered his center of gravity very low, and started to break through with the ball.
It is only 160 centimeters tall, and if the center of gravity is lowered, it is almost touching the floor, which makes the defense of Zhou Quan, who is 20 centimeters tall, very uncomfortable.
But he didn't dare to lower his center of gravity, because once he did, Boggs would definitely take off and shoot immediately.
He would rather let Boggs break in, with his teammates' defense inside, than let his opponent take action from the outside. Anyway, defense against shooting is more important than defense against breakout.
In this way, Boggs's body was short, and he went directly under Zhou Quan's left elbow, crossed the top of the arc, and went straight to the penalty area.
"Whoosh!"
Entering the penalty area, facing the encirclement of John Salley and Rodman, he immediately passed the ball to Larry Johnson in the low post on the left wing.
Rodman quickly returned to defense, and Larry Johnson caught the ball and shot a jumper. The former's blocking ability was limited, but the latter's two-point shooting rate from close range was also very low, almost 40%, and the ball missed.
John Salley got the backcourt rebound and gave it to Zhou Quan, and the Pistons attacked.
Zhou Quan advanced to the frontcourt, and Boggs followed him, surrounding him like a piece of brown candy. He had to be extremely careful to prevent being intercepted by his opponent.
Buzz buzz...
Boggs' defense made him feel like he could hear a mosquito buzzing around his ears, which was very annoying.
His response was to hit him from behind and run him over.
Blocking Boggs behind him, his left elbow tilted down to protect the ball to prevent his opponent from getting into his armpit, and then relied on his strong confrontation ability to run over the left wing three-point line.
Boggs had no choice but to go around the armpit.
This detour took at least three steps, and when he went around, Zhou Quan turned around and passed by. When he took a step outside the paint area, he suddenly stopped and jumped out, hitting a goal.
Boggs's vertical jump height can reach 110 centimeters. He even once blocked the shot of super center Ewing, but his defense was always half a beat slower. In addition, he was suddenly caught again, and he caught up from behind and jumped to block the shot. He was one step behind the boss. cut.
The Hornets attacked, Larry Johnson hit Rodman on the back and hit a goal.
It was the Pistons' turn to attack, and Zhou Quan once again hit Burgess from behind.
Boggs cursed angrily: "Iron Fist, do you want face?"
"Muggsy, you are so powerful, this is the only way I can deal with you." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
Boggs just wants to scold people. Although I am short, I am not a child and I am not stupid. Are you kidding me?
At this time, Zhou Quan ran outside the paint area, and Hornets center Kenny Gatisson was forced to double-team. He promptly distributed the ball to John Salley, who was cutting inside, and the latter dunked over Larry Johnson's head.
Five minutes later, 14:7, the Pistons already led by 7 points in the away game.
The Hornets once switched defenses and asked Gill, the shooting guard with the best perimeter defense, to guard Zhou Quan, but Zhou Quan was actually not afraid of this kind of defender.
Gill is 196 centimeters and 86 kilograms, and it is impossible to defend like Boggs.
Facing Gill's defense, he no longer made a crushing breakthrough, but a three-in-one breakthrough, directly knocking his opponent away and entering.
In the 7th minute of the first quarter, the Pistons led by 8 points.
When the Hornets attacked, Larry Johnson hit Rodman in the low post on the right wing. After bumping into the defender, he immediately used the force to turn over and shoot a jumper.
This is his specialty. With his extremely strong core strength, he can do this kind of action with ease and his hit rate is very high.
But at this moment, Johnselli jumped from the basket and slapped him. The ball missed and hit him directly in the face.
"Ouch!"
Larry Johnson screamed in pain, and when he landed, his knee hit the floor again, causing him to scream in pain.
"Didi!"
The referee stopped the game and was about to go over to take the penalty. An angry Larry Johnson got up and punched John Salley who was nearby.
"Bang!"
It was an upper hook that hit Selly right on the chin. Selly flipped backwards and hit the back of his head on the floor again, bleeding.
"..."
At this time, the players on both sides, as well as the referee and the fans, did not react and were stunned for a moment.
"What the hell!"
After Zhou Quan reacted, he immediately rushed over and pounced on Larry Johnson.
His teammates' heads were bleeding, so he had to step forward.
Larry Johnson saw Zhou Quan coming towards him, with a ruthless look in his eyes. He was not afraid at all. He had been practicing boxing for many years in his spare time, and it was time to show off.
At the same time, a hint of excitement flashed in Jidar Gill's eyes. No one knew that he had also practiced boxing in his spare time for a year, and he even wanted to switch to boxing after retirement.
