Back in the locker room, Jordan pulled Phil Jackson to analyze the situation in the second quarter.
Phil Jackson advised: "Michael, you are defending against Iron Fist alone, but he is not guarding against you alone. The assassin has been involved in assisting you in defense for a lot of time, so you don't have to worry about the decrease in efficiency in the second quarter. He made 6 of 11 shots. , the efficiency is already very high.”
Jordan still shook his head because he felt that Zhou Quan's defense had an impact on him. His offensive rhythm was very poor, which affected his feel.
Phil Jackson advised again: "Michael, our main players came on in the second half, and they helped you share the defensive pressure. Even if the Pistons still use iron fists to defend you, the effect will not be that good. I believe your efficiency will be better than these eight minutes." .
In addition, in the third quarter, Pippen will still control the ball. If you play without the ball, Iron Fist's defensive effect on you will be even worse.
I think that although his defense is good, only stealing is a threat to your offense. If you don't have the ball in your hands, this threat is gone.
If you increase the amount of running without the ball, his speed and flexibility are not as good as yours. In addition, if he uses the cover of his teammates, he probably won't be able to keep up with you, so don't worry about his performance in those few minutes. "
Jordan nodded, it was indeed the case, and he no longer hesitated.
In the home team's locker room, Chuck Daly praised Zhou Quan and said: "Iron Fist, you at least shouldered 70% of Jordan's offensive pressure. You did a good job."
Joe Dumars smiled and said: "Iron Fist, why don't you guard him in the second half? My defense was honed by playing against him."
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "I have no problem, let the coach arrange it."
"Then it's up to you to continue to guard against him."
Chuck Daly nodded and made up his mind.
Originally, this season, and even the next two seasons, was to train Zhou Quan, use two or three seasons to train the new core, and slowly modify the lineup along the way to fill in younger people. The team's performance is not the most important thing for the management. Yes, Zhou Quan's growth is what the team values most.
Being able to defend Jordan and using the most powerful offensive player in the league and the league's signature star to hone his defense is the best way to practice.
Soon after, the third quarter started and the Bulls attacked.
"Have you tasted the sweetness?"
Seeing Zhou Quan following him, Jordan gnashed his teeth in hatred.
But now he is not fighting alone. All the main teammates are by his side. Does this kid still think he can guard him?
Besides, the ball is not in his hands.
And he doesn't plan to take too many shots in this quarter, and will save his physical strength for the last quarter.
In the first half, he took 19 shots, which was a lot. He competed with Zhou Quan for another eight minutes. The confrontation was very intense and he consumed a lot of physical energy.
Just two minutes into this quarter, Zhou Quan understood Jordan's plan, which was to use running to contain his defense without the ball, and then limit his offense and passing on the defensive end. This was his decision to fight in the final quarter. ?
His physical fitness is far not as good as Jordan's, so he changed accordingly and focused mainly on organization to save some physical fitness for the final quarter.
At the end of the third quarter, 71:66, the Pistons took advantage of their home court advantage and strong defense to lead by 5 points.
"Michael, Iron Fist's speed is not as good as yours, and his breakthrough speed is not as good as yours. You should carefully analyze some of his weaknesses to seize some opportunities. With your defensive strength, I believe you can defend him better. "
After Jordan came down, Phil Jackson analyzed it for him.
"weakness?"
Jordan said thoughtfully.
The final quarter started with the Pistons' first attack.
Robert Guida said: "The Pistons responded with all their main players, including Iron Fist, who rested for 6 minutes in the first half, played the entire third quarter, and came on the field at the beginning of the last quarter.
He made 4 of 9 shots in the three quarters and 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 12 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls. His assists were still outstanding, and his steal data was off the charts.
His performance in the playoffs exceeded that of the regular season. I mean assists and steals. Compared with the Jazz's veteran All-Star point guard John Stockton and the rising star Gary Payton at the point guard, he is obviously more adaptable. The defensive intensity in the playoffs, so he performed best among the three.
I'll tell you the truth, if you put aside offense and focus on assists and defense, his performance in the playoffs was completely superstar-level. "
"The stronger the confrontation ability, the more suitable it is for the playoffs."
Nodding, Ringo Wilson added: "The Bulls are also the main players. Michael only rested for 3 minutes in the first three quarters and has played 33 minutes.
He made 2 of 5 shots in the third quarter, and has made 12 of 24 shots, with a shooting percentage of 50%, which is somewhat improved compared to the G2 game. In addition, he made 6 of 7 free throws, and has already scored 30 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers, and 3 fouls. data. "
"Bang bang..."
In the backcourt, Zhou Quan advanced with the ball.
Half-bent, Jordan retreated step by step, staring eagerly at Zhou Quan who was one step away.
His body posture allows him to pounce at any time.
Zhou Quan's attention was 100% concentrated, but not on Jordan alone, but on the entire audience. His eyes were still not on Jordan.
"This kid never stares at the defender during the matchup, but he doesn't get the ball intercepted many times."
Jordan's speculation on this is that firstly, Zhou Quan's nerve reaction speed is very fast; secondly, the confrontation is very strong. If the defender goes up to steal, he will immediately engage in physical confrontation to protect the ball; thirdly, his arms are long and his height when controlling the ball is very low. Hard to steal.
He intercepted Zhou Quan once in the second quarter, but it was not during a head-on confrontation, but when Zhou Quan was holding the ball and rushing toward him. He accurately predicted Zhou Quan's breakthrough and retreated in advance to complete the game. Steals.
So he now realizes that in order to intercept Zhou Quan's ball, he must strike when his opponent breaks through, anticipate his opponent's next move, and look for opportunities.
Moreover, Zhou Quan's breakthrough speed is not very fast, and his absolute speed is not very fast either. If he intercepts the ball on the move, he should have a good chance.
This is the conclusion he came to after thinking about it after being reminded by Phil Jackson just now.
Taking another half step back, the center line appeared below his field of vision.
At this moment, Zhou Quan in front of him suddenly lowered his body height. At this moment, his excellent prediction ability allowed him to make a prediction.
"It's about to break out!"
"Left side."
At this moment, Jordan predicted that Zhou Quan would break through from his left side.
The next moment, he quickly retreated.
Move your right foot one step laterally from behind your left foot to the rear left side, then follow with your left foot and cross your feet to complete the sideways retreat to the rear left side.
Sure enough, his prediction was correct, Iron Fist took a step forward and bumped into him.
Iron Fist's not-so-fast breakthrough speed gave him a chance. He stabbed the ball with his hand. At the same time, he took a step forward and started to counterattack.
"Oops!"
Zhou Quan quickly stopped and turned around. By the time he started, he was already two steps behind.
"Oh, Iron Fist made a mistake, the ball was broken!" Bearded John Lowes shouted, holding his head.
"I can't catch up." The bespectacled male dragon Granlance shook his head.
"boom!"
Jordan entered the paint area and hit a one-armed looping dunk, which caused the two thousand Bulls fans to shout wildly and also silenced the boos of the Pistons' 20,000 fans.
However, the boos at the Palace of Auburn Hills only stopped for a second, and immediately rang out with greater intensity, drowning out the shouts of Bulls fans.
"oh!"
After completing the dunk, Jordan pumped his fist excitedly and shouted angrily.
But the reason why he was so excited was not to score dunks, but to steal. He really found the weakness of Zhou Quan.
"This guy blocked me twice when I was breaking through. It couldn't be a coincidence. Did he predict my technical moves? Such a good prediction ability?!"
Another mistake occurred, this was the fourth time tonight. Zhou Quan felt great pressure from Jordan's defense.
"Snapped!"
Three minutes later, Jordan stole Zhou Quan's breakthrough with the ball for the third time, and counterattacked again.
Continuous steals on Zhou Quan and successful counterattacks dealt a huge blow to the Pistons' morale.
At the same time, through strong defense, he successfully suppressed Zhou Quan, disrupted his game rhythm, and thus disrupted the Pistons' offensive organization. The Pistons only scored four points in four minutes. The Bulls took the opportunity to play a 12:4 wave. The attack wave not only equalized the score, but also overtook it.
Zhou Quan was continuously intercepted while holding the ball, which affected his concentration on the game. Then, under Jordan's full-court press, another pass error occurred, and then Chuck Daly called a timeout.
But he did not replace him, but said to him: "Zhou, Jordan is undoubtedly the number one active player. Your current strength is far inferior to him. Suffering some losses in his hands will also be beneficial to your growth, so you There's no need to get frustrated. You just have to ignore your mistakes now, forget about them and just focus on the game."
Zhou Quan nodded. He was not frustrated. A few mistakes were not enough to make him think of depression despite his full level of mental willpower.
But the continuous mistakes did affect his focus on the game.
Chuck Daly added: "In addition, Michael Jordan has obviously caught your weakness. Your breakthrough speed with the ball is not fast enough, you retreat early, and you have accurate predictions, so your breakthrough often ends up giving away the ball to you." It’s in his hands.”
"So that's it?!"
Zhou Quan felt like he was suddenly enlightened and enlightened.
"So when you break through with the ball, you need more changes, avoid your own weaknesses, and use your strengths to break his rhythm instead of letting him catch your rhythm and weaknesses."
Chuck Daly added: "Now you have to think about how to break Jordan's defense, otherwise your rhythm will be destroyed by him, and not only will you not be able to play personal offense, but you will also be unable to organize the entire team's offense."
He nodded, feeling a little heavy because he had no clue.
Daly suggested: "But that's for the future. For the time being, you can call the pick-and-roll to get rid of him, and then speed up the advancement and increase the offensive rhythm, or give up the ball first and let Joe Dumars play John Paxson. , you calm down first."
"OK." Zhou Quan nodded.
After the timeout, the game continues.
75:78, the Bulls attack, with eight minutes left in the game.
Jordan was running around without the ball, running from the left wing along the baseline to the right wing. Zhou Quan was not as fast and agile as Jordan, and was blocked by Cartwright and was thrown away.
"brush!"
At this time, Pippen saw the opportunity to pass the ball, and Jordan received the ball from the mid-range on the right wing and hit an open mid-range shot.
75:80, the Pistons were 5 points behind at home.
"Boy, are you giving up? You are too young!"
Jordan gave the ball to Joe Dumars as soon as Zhou Quan crossed the center line. He was disappointed and immediately used trash talk to stimulate him.
"Congratulations, you beat me, a rookie again." Zhou Quan smiled.
Jordan just wants to slap Zhou Quan in the face, and if he can't beat him, he will consider himself a rookie. Do you still want to face him?
"brush!"
Joe Dumars didn't show any mercy, faked a sudden shot and hit a mid-range shot over John Paxson's head to return the favor.
In the next game, Jordan and Joe Dumars played the main attack. The result was obvious. Jordan's firepower was too strong, surpassing Joe Dumars by a large margin, especially his offensive ability. Joe Dumars was not enough in front of Jordan. , the score difference continued to widen in an irreversible manner.
Moreover, Zhou Quan held the ball less and did not attack much. Jordan spent less energy on the defensive end and invested more on the offensive end, scoring consecutively.
Four more minutes were played, with more than two minutes left, and the Pistons were already thirteen points behind.
"Why, why are you so strong?"
Facing such a fierce Jordan, Joe Dumars felt powerless.
When his physical strength was still there, he could barely compete with him, but now that his physical strength was exhausted, Jordan in front of him actually gave him a feeling that he could not beat him, which deeply affected his morale. and fighting spirit, causing his condition to decline even further.
"Snapped!"
Jordan suddenly stepped up and stole the ball from Joe Dumars.
Zhou Quan struggled to catch up, but his physical fitness was not enough, so he could only watch Jordan get to the basket and dunk successfully.
15 marks.
He glanced at Joe Dumars. From his teammates, he didn't feel a strong fighting spirit or a strong desire to chase points, which made him very disappointed.
He got the ball back, but the time was too short. After the Assassin died, there was no one in the team with explosive scoring ability, including Joe Dumars and him. When behind by a big score, the ability to chase points was not good. In the end Lost the crucial first home game.
"Didi!"
As the referee blew his whistle, the G3 game ended.
Zhou Quan was very shocked. In the last quarter, especially the second half, both he and Joe Dumars were almost exhausted physically and their condition dropped significantly. However, Jordan did not and still maintained a very good condition.
This huge difference in state also caused a great blow to their psychology. Even Joe Dumas and the others had a significant decline in their fighting will.
He had the greatest experience of the role of physical fitness in the game, and the price was losing the G3 game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the first home game.
"Pa bang bang..."
At the end of the game, David Stern applauded in front of Pistons owner Davidson. He very much hoped that Michael Jordan would continue to win the championship this season.
The NBA has reached a new level with the Magic Bird era, established a firm foothold in the North American commercial sports world, and reaped a wave of dividends with the Bad Boys. Now it is time to enter the Jordan era.
He believes that the Bad Boys Legion cannot be called an era. Although it has led the tough and iron-blooded league style and won two consecutive championships, it has fallen too quickly.
Although the league reaped dividends from the Bad Boys, he still didn't like the style of the Bad Boys, so he finally chose to introduce flagrant foul rules and personally ended the Bad Boys. It can also be said that he single-handedly interrupted the Bad Boys. era.
Regarding the current Pistons team, he was also a little surprised by the Pistons' luck. He didn't expect that this team had just fallen and found a new core.
But he doesn't think the Pistons team led by Zhou Quan can truly threaten Michael Jordan's Bulls team.
This season the Pistons should be their strongest in the past two or three seasons. With the accelerated decline of the Smiling Assassin and the aging of the lineup, the Pistons' strength will go down instead of going up with Zhou Quan's growth.
The core of the team is not enough. This team will truly enter a rebuilding process. With the exception of Joe Dumars, everyone else may be involved in trades after this season.
Therefore, he believes that after next season, this Pistons will no longer have the strength to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
But he is very happy to see Zhou Quan's growth, because if Michael Jordan wants to create an era, he must have strong opponents. Without green leaves, the beauty and stunningness of flowers cannot be brought out.
He even expected someone to compete with Jordan.
Because the reason why the Magic Bird Era is great is because both the black and white heroes are great. They set off each other and complete each other.
"marvelous!"
He defeated the Pistons in the away game and gained a huge two-to-one advantage. At the moment the game ended, Jordan was so excited that he waved his fists vigorously and continuously.
"What the hell!"
Zhou Quan glanced at Jordan. Losing at home is indeed depressing, but you have to admit it when you lose. He turned and walked to the bench.
"Hey, kid, don't be discouraged, because the person who beats you today is God." Jordan's proud trash talk sounded behind him.
He laughed angrily and turned around and said, "Old boy, if you are God in this game, then who was your God in the last game?"
Jordan's face froze, and he was angry. Just because you want to be my God?
"I wonder if you still have the courage to shout here that you are the God of the Palace of Mount Auburn?" Zhou Quan said with a smile.
"snort!"
Michael Jordan turned around and glanced at David Stern, who was looking at him with a smile, snorted angrily, turned around and left.
"Michael, Zhou, come here." Stern waved and shouted.
The two were startled and walked over quickly.
(End of chapter)
