"Iron Fist, Madonna and I broke up." At this time, Rodman suddenly said.
"What?"
Zhou Quan was a little surprised. He had never heard Rodman mention it before, so suddenly?
Rodman shrugged and said, "I proposed it, she didn't want to break up with me."
"Big Chong, tell us quickly, why did you and her break up?"
"Dennis, can't you satisfy her?"
"Ha ha……"
At this time, everyone else heard it, and everyone was eager to gossip. They immediately gathered around and started shouting.
Rodman looked regretful and distressed and said: "I have been with her for almost a year. It's too bad. She demands too much time and time again. Every time she sees me, she wants to eat me. I feel like she wants to eat me." It sucked 50% of my energy, no, 80%.
Her desire was so strong that I had to break up with her, otherwise I would be sucked to the bone by her sooner or later. To be honest, I am very proud of being able to persist for a year. If it were you, I would have to run away in a week at most. "
"Ha ha……"
The locker room burst into laughter.
…
The next day, Zhou Quan slept until he woke up naturally and didn't get up until ten o'clock.
"Christina, do you want to come to the game?"
"Of course, I want to sit in the seat behind you."
"OK."
While making breakfast, I called my girlfriend.
His relationship with Christina Yeri is still going well. There are not many opportunities for him to go to Los Angeles. Most of the time, Christina flies to Detroit.
He found that this great beauty was not very ambitious, indifferent, and had a fairy spirit. She was completely different from Catherine.
Even when I was with him last time, I even revealed my idea of ending my life if I get married.
At noon, he made an appointment with several teammates such as Joe Dumars and Assassin to go to the golf course to play golf and relax.
The team is now in pretty good shape and the injury problem is better than last season.
Rodman suffered from constant injuries during the season and was injured several times. In total, he was injured for 30 games. His body got a good rest and he is currently in good condition.
The Assassin has played very little time this season, averaging 15 minutes per game, and often rests. The injury problem has been controlled and is currently relatively stable.
"Iron Fist, our goal for this playoffs..."
After Zhou Quan kicked off the ball, the assassin came up and looked at him, obviously hoping to understand his attitude.
He looked at the ball in the air from a distance and saw it landing on the fairway about 200 meters away. Then he turned back to the assassin and said:
"Isiah, relax a little and don't think so far ahead. Our most suitable goal is to win the Hornets first. This is the most practical goal."
The assassin nodded slightly. He didn't dare to think too far. The Hornets in the first round alone were difficult to beat.
He also knows that the Pistons are now afraid of teams with strong inside lines, especially teams with strong inside defense, such as the Hornets and Knicks, which have restraints on the Pistons' lineup.
On the contrary, against a team with average inside numbers like the Bulls, as long as Jordan cannot play in an explosive state, the Pistons have hope of winning. In the regular season, the Pistons are better than the Bulls in terms of points per game.
They had 3 wins and 2 losses against the Hornets in the regular season. This was due to the poor relationship between Larry Johnson and Mourning, which prevented them from fully displaying their strength.
Of course, the Pistons have an advantage on the outside. The difference between the two teams ultimately depends on the on-the-spot performance and the tactical command of the coaching staff.
At this time, Joe Dumars hit the ball not far, just over 100 meters. The playoffs were about to start. They just came to relax and not hit the ball hard to avoid accidental injuries.
"Isiah, do you want to fight?" Zhou Quan asked.
"I'll watch you fight."
The assassin shook his head. He was too injured and didn't dare to play. What if he got injured again?
"Hey, Iron Fist, do you want to play together?" Someone shouted not far away.
Zhou Quan took a look and saw that it was Cadillac's chief administrative officer, Lowes Edwards, a white man in his forties who had played golf here with him.
"Of course, let's play together." He greeted with a smile.
This evening, the league announced some awards for this season through TNT Sports News.
The first is DPOY. Dream Olajuwon won this honor for the first time.
Then came the Rookie of the Year. O'Neal won this honor without any suspense. Even Mourning, who also played 20+10, was not competitive in front of him.
The Sixth Man of the Year was Clifford Robinson, the Most Improved Player Mahamedlauf, and the Coach of the Year was Pat Riley.
Finally, there are five data kings, namely scoring leader Michael Jordan, assists leader Zhou Quan, steals leader Zhou Quan, rebounds leader Rodman, and blocks leader Olajuwon.
AMVP, assists leader, steal leader, and player of the month once. This is a hard honor that Zhou Quan won in the regular season. It is not too hard, it is a second-rate hard honor, but it is better than nothing.
In addition, he is still ranked fifth in the MVP rankings.
"Two skill points are not bad."
He received the rewards of assist king and steal king, and the system marked it as the first time. It is estimated that there will be no reward next time he gets this honor.
These two skill points can be added for feinting and turning around, but once he adds a little, he can't add any more, but level 92 is already pretty good.
For the rest, he added a one-handed feint breakthrough, raising it to level 91.
…
On the morning of the 27th, Zhou Quan went to the swimming pool to swim and continue to relax.
He was a little envious of those villas with swimming pools. The single-family villa that the Pistons rented for him was just an ordinary residence, not a real villa. He decided to buy a villa with a swimming pool himself after signing the next contract.
At noon, he drove to the airport to pick up his girlfriend.
The 27-year-old Christina Yeri is as beautiful as a French rose in full bloom, and she can squeeze water out of it. She belongs to the period when her appearance is at its best.
She is wearing a burgundy classic dress, coupled with her own classical temperament, the whole person has a dreamlike feeling, as if she is independent of the world, and people can't help but indulge in it.
Zhou Quan liked her blue eyes the most. They shrouded her eyes like a layer of fog, mysterious and pure, making people have the urge to explore them.
"Crack, click, click..."
Some reporters kept pressing their shutters at the two.
…
After the regular season ended, there was more news about the playoffs, and all major media analyzed the playoff situation.
Regarding the Pistons and the Hornets, one is third in the Eastern Conference and the other is sixth in the Eastern Conference. They have three wins and two losses in the regular season. Most media evaluations are that the Pistons are stronger on paper, but the Hornets have a restrained lineup against the Pistons.
Most of the media's first-round speculations about the two teams are not one-sided. Some think the Pistons will advance, while others think the Hornets will advance.
In fact, this is not good news for the Pistons. As third in the Eastern Conference, facing sixth, they do not have much advantage.
Zhou Quan's own opinion is of course to advance to the first round. Although the Hornets are strong inside, the Pistons also have a great advantage on the outside, and the Pistons also have some advantages in rebounding.
At noon on the 27th, ESPN launched its own playoff predictions as usual.
The first is the prediction of the probability of winning. None of the sixteen playoff teams are included. The Bulls once again top the starting lineup, with a probability of winning as high as 51%.
The Bulls' triangle offense has fully matured, and the defensive system has allowed the Bulls to rank second in the league in points per game, second only to the Knicks. Michael Jordan has entered his true peak period, and his dominance over the locker room and the game is beyond imagination. , there are no major injuries in the Bulls lineup. Even after two consecutive championships, they are full of endless vigor. Under the leadership of Michael Jordan, it is time for the Bulls to launch an attack on three consecutive championships.
ESPN spoke highly of the Bulls, and their admiration for Jordan was beyond words, and they wanted to kneel down and lick him.
"ESPN's predictions have always been very accurate, and I will make their predictions this time equally accurate," Jordan said in a phone interview.
He is under a lot of pressure this season, not only the pressure of three consecutive championships, but also the internal problems of the team, all of which have emerged. He needs to spend more energy managing the locker room.
For example, Cobra Grant, one of the Iron Triangle, doesn't like this guy, and the other side also hates him. Grant has decided to leave the Bulls. How to stabilize the relationship between him and Grant and play well in the playoffs gives him a headache.
At the same time, because negative news about gambling and other issues has been caught by the media and even intensified, he was under great psychological pressure.
Internal pressure and external pressure even made him think about retiring from playing. Fortunately, his father continued to encourage him and allowed him to persevere.
The Suns, as the number one record in the regular season this season, have a 15% chance of winning.
Barkley was very dissatisfied. We had already reached first place, but the Bulls were only third in the league. How come they had 51% and we only had 15%?
In a phone interview, he said dissatisfiedly: "ESPN underestimated us a little. We will surprise people this time."
The Pistons' chances of winning the championship are only...
Zhou Quan is really angry. Damn ESPN. They only gave the Pistons 1% last season. Now this season is here again. Are they really not afraid of being slapped in the face?
On the surface, the Pistons' injury situation is better than last season's playoffs, but Rodman was injured for 30 games during the regular season. This is a huge hidden danger. It is difficult to guarantee that he will not be as bad as last season's playoffs. With injuries aplenty, the best solution is to trade him.
Even if Rodman can stay healthy, facing the Hornets' powerful inside combination, the Pistons are not likely to advance in the first round, even lower than the Hornets.
Even if the Pistons work hard to get into the second round, they will fall at the feet of the Bulls without any suspense. Their chances of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals are even zero.
This is ESPN's analysis of the Pistons' playoff situation.
Zhou Quan scoffed at this. The Hornets are so powerful, why are they sixth in the Eastern Conference? The Bulls are so powerful, why doesn't ESPN increase their chances of winning the championship to 100%?
If it weren't for injuries, they would have had a chance to defeat the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. They can do a lot this season as well, and the Bulls are not invincible.
"Iron Fist, what do you think of our forecast data?"
After ESPN released the data, they called and interviewed the leading stars of each team one by one, including Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan lay comfortably on the lap of the beautiful French beauty, keeping a faint smile on his face without showing any emotion or anger: "Oh, the forecast data is quite beautiful, as romantic as a dog's tail flower, and it makes people full of fantasy. .”
"Pfft!"
Christina Yeri burst out laughing instantly, her delicate body trembling.
"Uh, okay, Iron Fist, I won't disturb you anymore. I wish you and Ms. Christina a good time." The other party hung up the phone awkwardly.
…
On the morning of the 28th, the Pistons gathered for a tactical meeting in the morning and team training in the afternoon.
At the beginning of the meeting, assistant coach Rick Mask first introduced the current situation of the Charlotte Hornets, and then said:
"Their five main positions, positions one, two, four and five, are all fixed. Only position three is part of the rotation. David Wingate started 55 games and John Newman started 27 games.
Of these two players, Newman plays more as a substitute, but he is stronger, averaging 11.9 points per game, while Wingate only has 5.6 points. In the first round of the series, the Hornets coaching staff is likely to let Newman play in order to enrich the main lineup. Starter. "
He continued: "For the Hornets, Larry Johnson is the main attacker. In the regular season, this young man averaged 22.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.8 turnovers per game, and shot 52.6% from the field. We must pay attention to his low-post offense and control his rebounds. .
50% of his offense occurs in the paint area, and his mid-range shots are terrible, with no three-pointers, but you must also be careful about his two-pointers. Nearly 18% of his shots are there, and his shooting rate does not exceed 30%.
Mourning is the main defender. In the regular season, he averaged 21 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3.5 blocks and 3 turnovers, with a shooting percentage of 51.1%. He has a very strong bottom line, a tough style, strong defense and shot-blocking abilities, and is especially good at assisting defense and moving. Quick, when we attack, we must be careful about his basket protection.
In addition, his offense is also good. He is very accurate in the near two-point range when cutting inside, and he is also good in the far two-point range when cutting outside. He is also good in the low post. 74% of his offenses even occur in the paint area, and 43% of the offense is at the basket. %, the hit rate is as high as 70%. "
At this time, Chuck Daly took over and said: "The inside is on the offensive end, we have to pull it out to fight. Ronnie..."
He looked at Sekali and said: "You pull to the wing, take Mourning out, and weaken his basket protection, but if it's Larry Johnson with you, then Zhou..."
He looked at Zhou Quan again and said: "You can pass more passes to Ronnie. Larry Johnson's defense is average and his height is not high enough. Ronnie has the advantage of mismatch. At this time, we must pay attention to grabbing offensive rebounds and strive for a second offensive opportunity." .”
Zhou Quan and Seikali both nodded.
Daley continued: "If Mourning follows, our outside perimeter will have to rush in more, Larry Johnson cannot be guarded, and his ability to protect the basket is limited.
At this time, he looked at Rodman and warned: "Dennis, you have to be responsible for offensive screens under the basket and grab every rebound you can."
"Of course, I will do a good job, Daddy Chuck." Rodman said with a smile.
Chuck Daly smiled kindly. He was glad that Rodman and Madonna had broken up. That bitch had wasted so much of Rodman's energy that it almost sucked the worm dry.
Then he said: "We have advantages on the outside. We should strive to get the advantages we should have on both offense and defense to make up for the disadvantages on the inside.
Whether we can win this series depends on whether the advantages on the outside can make up for the disadvantages on the inside. I think you should understand this.
Another point, don't think that the Hornets don't have height inside. Their two big inside players are not weak in rebounding. You have to grab every rebound you can. "
Next, he began to explain the tactics to be used in the first round.
There is no specific determination of which tactics to use. They are all used in the regular season. Now we are just emphasizing some tactics that are more likely to be used in large quantities based on the characteristics of the Hornets' lineup and the restraint of both sides' lineups.
For example, the pick-and-roll + inside cut + outside cut tactics between Ulrich and Seikali on the flanks are often used in the regular season. They can pull out the opponent's inside line, and then use the dunk to pull Ulrich in and Seikali out. cut.
Both Sekali and Ulrich's shooting percentages this season have improved compared to last season, because this tactic suits them very well and they work together very well.
For another example, Seikali pulls up to the high post or on the wing and engages in a pick-and-roll with Zhou Quan, and Joe Dumars and Zhou Quan engage in an outside pick-and-roll.
Chuck Daly simply asked Seikali to play based on his characteristics of no confrontation and mid-range shooting under the basket, and the effect was pretty good.
(End of chapter)
