Two intra-squad training sessions were arranged in the afternoon. In the second half of the game, the excited Rodman and Seikali were competing for a rebound. They collided and landed on the ground and sprained their feet. The team doctor said they should at least rest. In half a month, another six to eight games will be suspended.
"Nima's!"
Zhou Quan muttered in disappointment.
Rodman was injured again, which reminded him that his teammate was almost 32 years old. His previous energetic giant made him somewhat ignore his age.
This makes him a little worried. If Rodman is often injured and absent, the management will let Rodman go in order to save space.
Whether the owner, Mr. Davis, is willing to invest is also a question.
Two years later, he is already a three-year veteran, and the Big Bird clause applies, as does Rodman and Joe Dumars. As long as one of the three of them is extended, the space problem can be solved.
On the night of the 8th, the Pistons faced the Hawks at home. Their condition was not good, and Rodman was absent. They suffered their eighth defeat of the season and fell from the first place in the Eastern Conference.
On the 9th, they lost to the Warriors in back-to-back home games, losing consecutive games for the second time this season.
On the 11th, the Spurs came to visit. The Pistons were beaten inside by super center David Robinson. They lost three consecutive games, with 22 wins and 10 losses, and a winning rate of 68.75%.
The Bulls also lost that night, and the Pistons still ranked second in the Eastern Conference.
On the morning of the 12th, Zhou Quan saw a large number of articles criticizing him.
Although the team ended its losing streak, the media's evaluation of the Pistons has still dropped a notch.
Just in the past few days, Philip began to promote Zhou Quan, saying that he was planning to participate in the San Francisco Station of the National Golf Tour during the All-Star Weekend, which even attracted criticism from the media.
Therefore, as the team boss, many media focused their fire on Zhou Quan, believing that his crossover was too distracting and irresponsible to the team. At the same time, his leadership ability was too poor. As long as Rodman was injured, the team would have consecutive problems. defeat.
"Obviously, Iron Fist suffers from a big bug dependence. He is not so much the boss of the Pistons as he is a big bug. For personal business purposes, Iron Fist announced that he will participate in professional golf competitions. This is also an extremely disrespectful act towards the team. Responsible Conduct." Chicago Daily News.
"Iron Fist needs to prove that he can lead the team to victory in Rodman's absence, otherwise he is not worthy of becoming the boss of the Pistons." New York Times Sports Section.
"What Tekken needs to prove himself is not golf or other sports. What he needs to prove most is basketball." Miami Daily.
Zhou Quan had not read all the newspapers, and his mood was a little gloomy, and even the smile on his face was gone.
With the Pistons' current record, which is still higher than that of the Bulls, he was very disappointed that so many media were targeting him. He felt the malice from the American media.
Perhaps the American media doesn't like to see a Chinese in the limelight in the NBA. If his character could be more low-key, he might encounter less trouble.
"I need to win."
The best response to media criticism is to keep winning.
On the 13th, the Pistons faced the Mavericks at home.
This morning, Zhou Quan saw the counterattack from the Detroit media at the dinner table.
The editor-in-chief of the Detroit Journal wrote in a front-page headline: “Instead of blaming Iron Fist, blame Michael Jordan.
At least Iron Fist still had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference even when Rodman missed 13 games, but what about the Flyers? He's still under our asses.
Doesn't Michael Jordan need to prove himself not in basketball, but in the gambling world? "
This article immediately pushed Michael Jordan to the forefront, because since the beginning of the new season, many media have been breaking news about Jordan's gambling.
Jordan's gambling is not news, but the Jordan now is not the Jordan before. The Jordan now is the signature of the league preparing for three consecutive championships. It can be said that Jordan and the Bulls have now become public enemies of the league. Who doesn't want to step on them?
The people who want to step on Jordan the most are the media who want sales.
As a result, negative news about Jordan immediately occupied the front pages of major media. The first to attack was the New York media.
The Knicks are now first in the Eastern Conference and second in the league. The Bulls are undoubtedly the Knicks' strongest opponent in the Eastern Conference, so the New York media did not let Jordan go and opened fire with all their strength.
New York TV acted as a pioneer and ran a related program at noon, criticizing Jordan's gambling behavior, and even revealed the check that the two separate offenders had last time.
As soon as the New York TV station took action, other New York media outlets followed suit.
The New York media represents the mainstream of American media. When they move, the media across the United States immediately follow suit.
"Shet! These damn Detroit media, damn New York media..." After seeing these news, Michael Jordan was angry, but already a little tired.
This season he has received the most negative news since entering the league. The media has been staring at him. From his feeling, these media even want to destroy him.
That night, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Zhou Quan faced the Mavericks, a bad team, and had an outburst.
His opponent is Derek Harper, a 31-year-old veteran who is two centimeters taller but 6 kilograms lighter than him. He has been selected to the All-Defensive Second Team twice. Although he is not an All-Star, he is very capable.
This season, he averaged 18 points, 6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The data is good, but the shooting percentage is less than 42% and the efficiency is low. He has a good three-pointer. The reason for the reduced efficiency is caused by injuries. It should be said that from this At the beginning of the season, he was already out of his prime.
Facing Derek Harper, Zhou Quan had no intention of holding back. In order to prove himself, he exploded with all his strength, using his weight advantage to crush his opponent and create a mismatch advantage.
A total of 11 of 21 shots, a field goal percentage of 52.3%, 1 of 3 three-pointers, 7 of 7 free throws, scored 30 points, 6 rebounds, 16 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls, breaking the regular season single record. While recording assists per game, he also led the team to victory.
After winning their 23rd game, the Detroit Pistons rushed to Atlanta overnight and will face the Hawks back-to-back on the 14th.
At 8pm on the 14th, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Pistons: Ronny Seikaly, Terry Mills, Orlando Ulrich, Joe Dumars, Zhou Quan
Eagles: Cowan Keck, Kevin Willis, Stacey Augmon, Wilkins, Mookie Blaylock
Zhou Quan's opponent is Mookie Blaylock, who the Hawks only acquired this season. He is nicknamed the Thief and has outstanding stealing ability. He will be 26 years old soon. He is a strong defensive opponent and averages 2.5 steals per game this season.
Now Zhou Quan is averaging 3.3 steals per game, and Blaylock is only 0.8 less. This shows that his defensive strength is very strong, and he even has the ability to be selected for the All-Defensive Team.
However, the shooting efficiency is average, with a 43% shooting rate. He did not have three-pointers before. After practicing during the offseason, he has a 37.5% three-point shooting rate this season.
This season he averaged 13.4 points, 8.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. He is only 180 centimeters tall and weighs only 82 kilograms.
At half past eight, the game starts.
Jump ball, Eagles attack.
Blaylock caught the ball and Zhou Quan got in front. The former did not hesitate and immediately gave it to Wilkins who wanted the ball. After receiving the ball, the highlight of Human Movie immediately bypassed Joe Dumars and went to the right wing, outside the three-point line. Shot a three-pointer.
Joe Dumars was caught off guard, not expecting Wilkins to take action so quickly.
"brush!"
The water splashed and the ball hit.
Zhou Quan has also gotten to know Wilkins. After all, he is one of the top three players in active service and is worth getting to know.
Wilkins likes to shoot three-pointers, but in fact, his three-pointers are not accurate. Last season, he only shot 28.9%. But this season, whether because of practice or luck, his shooting rate suddenly increased to 38%. Each took 4.5 three-pointers and hit 1.7.
If Wilkins' three-point shot is allowed today, it will be very troublesome, because this guy is best at breaking through and scoring. If Joe Dumars can't prevent shooting, Wilkins will definitely strengthen his breakthrough. , and Rodman is not here, neither Seikali nor Mills are very good defensively, how can they defend the inside?
He took the ball and started to advance. Blaylock leaned in front and defended and retreated.
Blaylock's attention is very focused, and Iron Fist's reputation is getting bigger and bigger. In only his second season, he has become one of the best point guards in the league, and his popularity is far higher than that of other first-class point guards. If he can take advantage of Iron Fist today, he will surely win the attention of the media.
He thought that his speed and agility were stronger than Iron Fist, so he focused on Zhou Quan's ball and wanted to steal it. If he could intercept Iron Fist's ball and counterattack, he would have a chance to shine.
From the opponent's attitude and aura, Zhou Quan knew that the dwarf in front of him didn't have any good ideas, and he also increased his vigilance.
Move your left elbow horizontally in front, hold the ball in your right hand, and start to push forward with force.
"damn it!"
Blaylock was about to press, but he lost his chance. Facing Zhou Quan's crushing advance, he had no power to counter it.
"Bang!"
Zhou Quan made a powerful collision and directly knocked away his opponent. He accelerated and rushed over. He crossed the center line in two steps and continued to accelerate toward the top of the arc.
Now his pull-up jumper level has improved, and he can also use step-back jumpers, so his progress is faster than last season.
If after breaking through the first line of defense, the opponent cannot immediately establish a second line of defense, he can go directly in and form a powerful impact on the basket.
If the opponent can immediately establish a second line of defense, his pull-up jump shots and passes can also be used.
The more obvious change is that his first goal is no longer to pass the ball, but to score through his own ball-handling offense, and then to use the ball-handling offense to pressure the opponent's defense and create opportunities for his teammates.
Now his positioning template is more of the previous assassin than himself last season. This is in line with the team's wishes. The Pistons just want him to become the next assassin.
When he reached the top of the arc, the opponent did not establish a second line of defense at the free throw line, so he reached the free throw line in two steps and made a pull-up jumper.
Blaylock, who was catching up from behind, stopped suddenly, but he was half a beat too late. Coupled with his lack of height, he failed to complete the defense.
The defender under the basket wanted to come out to cover, but it was too late and could only watch him take action.
"brush!"
There was no defender in front of him and he hit two points.
It was the Pistons' turn to attack. Blaylock smoothly moved forward with the ball. Zhou Quan was not in a hurry to press in the backcourt.
But just when the opponent crossed the center line, he seized the opportunity and suddenly pressed close to him. His long arms and strong confrontation force forced Blaylock to lose his footing. He could no longer retreat, so he had to turn around to protect the ball and formed a Korfball, no more dribbling.
Seeing the opportunity, Joe Dumars immediately pounced to form a double-team, knocking off Blaylock's ball and completing the steal.
"boom!"
Zhou Quan counterattacked, received a pass from Joe Dumas, turned 360 degrees in the air, and then smashed the ball into the basket.
The purpose of stealing Zhou Quan was not achieved, and the ball was stolen instead. Blaylock was not willing to accept it. He was very confident in his defense and stealing abilities and decided to return the ball no matter what.
This time, he carefully pushed the ball to the center line, suddenly changed direction and accelerated, killing it from the left to the left.
Zhou Quan followed closely and had no intention of passing. He just stuck to Blaylock's right side, forcing him to control the ball with his left hand, and then forced him to the left sideline.
Under the strong confrontation, Blaylock could not withstand it and was forced to move to the left sideline. At the same time, Zhou Quan locked his right wing, and his direction of passing to the weak side was also locked. He was very passive and finally passed to Small forward Stacey Ogmon came over to receive the ball.
Ogmon passed the ball to Kevin Wesley. Wesley caught the ball in the low post on the left wing, hit Mills with his back, turned around and made a jumper, hitting a goal.
The Pistons attacked, and when Zhou Quan was about to catch the ball, Blaylock immediately moved forward to defend, trying to prevent him from catching the ball.
But Zhou Quan's response was very simple. He directly confronted him, got close to him, and pushed Blaylock away with his elbow. Blaylock had no power to resist and was pushed to one side.
After successfully catching the ball, Zhou Quan immediately turned around and pushed forward at full speed. Blaylock was chasing after him, but his speed was too fast. How could he catch up?
"boom!"
At this time, the Hawks didn't have time to get into position inside. Zhou Quan came in from the right elbow area. Kevin Willis, who had just run to the front left side of the basket, saw that he was approaching fiercely. It was too late to get up. He hit the basket directly. A flying dunk blasted the Eagles' basket again.
"Qiao, let's join forces and lock this guy down. He is the biggest threat to the Eagles."
Zhou Quan shouted at Joe Dumas, blinked, and then pointed at Blaylock.
"Iron Fist, Wilkins is the biggest threat." Joe Dumas reminded honestly.
"No, Joe, Wilkins can only score. He is no threat. As long as we lock the Eagles' passing key, victory is not far away." Zhou Quan insisted.
"Can."
Zhou Quan insisted, but Joe Dumas stopped insisting and agreed.
The two of them said this in front of Wilkins, making him roll his eyes with anger. Are they looking down on him? So next, he took over the team's ball and started attacking with all his strength.
As you can imagine, he only knew how to take the shot, regardless of whether his teammates were open, and his ability to organize offense was limited. Even though he scored 36 points in the game, his shooting rate was only 38.5%. The Eagles lost without any suspense. game.
Zhou Quan made 5 steals in the game, Joe Dumars made 3 steals, and the two of them made 8 steals, 5 of which were by Wilkins.
Wilkins controlled the ball throughout the game and committed 9 turnovers. At the end of the game, head coach Bob Weiss's face was dark.
At this time, Weiss, the general manager of the Eagles, had an idea that surprised him, because he actually had the idea of trading the team boss Wilkins.
"You two boys, did you do this on purpose?"
When he came off the field, Wilkins shouted angrily at Zhou Quan and Joe Dumars.
"What's intentional?"
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Are you saying that we deliberately provoked you and then stepped up the double-teaming on you after you concentrated the ball?
Then let me tell you, yes, that's it. You control the ball and not only destroy the organizational function of your team with your own hands, but we can also reduce your shooting rate through double-teaming. The more shots you take, the more points you score. The Eagles will lose even more. "
"snort!"
Wilkington walked away angrily.
"Ha ha……"
Zhou Quan and Joe Dumars laughed.
Seeing this scene, Weiss's desire to trade Wilkins became even stronger.
Standing aside, Blaylock felt helpless and unwilling. He was good at defense and organization, and his offense was average. But today Wilkins deprived him of the ball, leaving him no chance to organize an offense, and he didn't. He had to guard Zhou Quan, so his performance on both offense and defense was very poor, far from what he wanted to achieve before the game.
(End of chapter)
