On the 4th, the Pistons returned to Detroit, waiting for the second round.
On this day, needless to say, the media in Detroit and the media in other cities still praised the performance of the Pistons. After all, they were the first to complete the promotion, and they were sweeping.
No media can treat Zhou Quan's team performance harshly, as well as his personal performance, and no matter how opposed the media is, they can't criticize his performance.
Leading the team's performance, sweeping the entire team without giving the opponent any chance. This is a record that is absolutely free from any criticism.
Personal performance, although he did not average a double-double per game, but the data was 32+7+9+4, plus a 55% field goal percentage, a 66% true shooting percentage, a free throw percentage of more than 90%, assists and turnovers Compared to 4, these are absolutely irreproachable data.
Regarding his performance in the first round, if the media continues to criticize him, he will be sprayed to death by the fans.
Of course, Zhou Quan knows very well that once his performance declines in the second round, the media who are now praising him will immediately be hurt.
Today I praise you and make a wave of sales, and tomorrow I crush you to death and make another wave. This is the media.
Think about how Jordan has been criticized by the US media this season. As a Chinese, how can he be an exception?
This is his current psychological preparation. His performance will definitely fluctuate. What's more, how can he still perform like the first round when facing Jordan?
Therefore, the media will definitely get angry. If there is not enough psychological preparation, it will affect his performance and put him into a vicious cycle, which will eventually affect the second round of the series.
That night, Jordan made 16 of 28 shots, shooting 57.1% from the field, scoring 39 points, and led the Bulls to successfully defeat the Hawks. The Bulls became the second team to complete a sweep and advance.
Jordan averaged 35.7 minutes per game in the series, averaging 13.7 of 26 shots per game, a field goal percentage of 52.6%, 2 of 4.3 three-pointers, a field goal percentage of 46.2%, 5 of 5.7 free throws, a field goal percentage of 88.2%, 34.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 rebounds. Statistics of assists, 1.7 steals, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 turnovers and 4 fouls.
Pippen's performance was far inferior to Jordan's, averaging 15.3 points, 4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2 steals, and 3.3 turnovers per game, and his shooting percentage was only 43.2%.
In the words of commentator Bill Walton, Jordan's performance was still great even when he was not playing at full strength. His personal performance determined the victory or defeat of the team.
After watching the game, Zhou Quan saw an opportunity.
Jordan's performance is indeed great, but this year is not last year. This year he is much stronger and closer to Jordan. The Bulls' offense relies too much on Jordan. If Jordan's offense can be restricted, then the Pistons will have a chance.
However, from the Bulls, he thought of the Pistons.
In the first round of the series, he also averaged 32 points per game, Seikaly averaged 18 points, Joe Dumars 23.5 points, and Ulrich 13 points. This is still a lot of offense focused on Seikaly and Joe Dumas. result.
In other words, the Pistons' first-round series was somewhat similar to that of the Bulls. He took on the most offensive tasks. The Bulls would definitely see this and have the same idea as he just did. As long as they restricted him, they would Can take down the piston.
And he is not Jordan. Jordan does not control the ball. Everyone in the Bulls can pass the ball. He controls the ball. Once restricted by Jordan, not only his offense but also the organization will be affected. The impact on him will be If it is bigger, the consequences will probably be more serious.
"We have to discuss this with the coaching staff."
The Bulls swept through to advance, but the Knicks missed the match point on the road and tied with the Nets 2-1.
In the Western Conference, the Jazz defeated the SuperSonics at home, 80:90, 2-1. They got the match point and may upset the third-place SuperSonics in the Western Conference.
In addition, the Suns, who had lost two consecutive games at home and were at risk of being beaten, fought back to defeat the Lakers and save a match point.
What surprised Zhou Quan was that the other statistics of the two teams in this game were similar. The Suns only won on one point, three-pointers.
The Lakers made 5 of 14 three-pointers and a shooting percentage of 35.7%, which is not low. However, the Suns made 6 of 12 three-pointers. In the end, they won 107:102 and won by 5 points on the road.
Dan Marley made 2 of 4 shots, Danny Ainge made 3 of 4 shots, but Barkley, the core, did not take a three-pointer in the first two games. This time he shot like crazy and shot 1 of 4. Fortunately, in the first two games The sinner of the defeat made atonement and did not let the team be swept out of the game.
The next day, May 5, the team had no training scheduled and rested at home in the morning. In the afternoon, Zhou Quan and his girlfriend went to play golf and relax.
While playing ball, I met several executives from automobile companies.
For example, the last time I met Cadillac's Chief Administrative Officer Loews Edwards, as well as two senior executives from Chevrolet and Buick.
"Iron Fist, if you can defeat the Bulls this time, I will give you a Cadillac endorsement contract." While playing, Lowes Edward suddenly said.
Zhou Quan was startled and said with a smile: "Lowes, do you think my temperament matches a Cadillac?"
"certainly."
Lowes Edward smiled: "If you can participate in professional golf events during the offseason and perform well, this endorsement contract will be larger."
"It's a deal."
This is of course a great thing. Regardless of whether he succeeds or not, it means that he has entered the sights of world-class brands. Zhou Quan is very happy.
This evening, the first round continues.
The Cavaliers eliminated the Green Team three to one and advanced to the second round.
Mosaic lost their second away game and tied with the Clippers 2-2.
The Trail Blazers, who reached the Finals last year, lost their second away game and were eliminated by the Spurs with a score of 1 to 3.
"I am very disappointed with this series. We need to change." After the game, the glider, who made 6 of 15 shots, told the media in disappointment.
Zhou Quan paid attention to Glider's data in the first round. He averaged 19 points per game and shot 41.9% from the field. His performance was even worse than him. Not only was his offense insufficient, but his efficiency could be called inefficient. It was similar to his last season. It can't be compared with Jordan.
Five players in the Trail Blazers scored 10+ points, and Terry Porter averaged 16.5 points per game. It can be said that in the Trail Blazers, the Glider did not play the core offensive level, and did not have the determination and vigor of Jordan. This is why he believes that the Glider is not as good as Jordan. One of the important reasons, no wonder he lost to Jordan in the finals last year.
In his opinion, the glider was worse than Joe Dumars.
If the Assassin said that the Blazers were rebuilding and had the opportunity to dig up gliders, he would not agree. If they come to take up space, they can only serve as a substitute for Joe Dumars, which is not cost-effective at all.
At this time, it was the morning in China, and the sports department of the capital CCTV was holding a meeting.
It had already been decided, because the last live broadcast of All-Stars had a good effect, CCTV was going to continue to broadcast the finals, and it was free anyway. As long as the effect was good, no one would refuse.
But now that Zhou Quan has entered the playoffs and reached the second round with a sweep, and will face the Bulls in the second round, CCTV has more ideas. They are considering whether to broadcast the next second round series. .
"The Bulls are the most popular team, and Michael Jordan is also the biggest star in the NBA. But that was without Zhou Quan. Zhou Quan is one of our own. I think the first round series should be broadcast live. Now we are playing the Bulls in the second round. , it must be broadcast, I suggest contacting the NBA immediately."
"Will the NBA ask us for money? If it does, I don't know how much it will cost. Where can we get so much foreign exchange?"
"This is possible."
"Let's get in touch first and then talk."
Everyone was talking a lot, and Minister Ma Li also considered it over and over again, thinking that the second round between the Pistons and Bulls should be broadcast live.
As for whether the league will continue to be free, he thinks there is no problem this year. The president, Mr. Stern, will not be so short-sighted. CCTV has just chosen to broadcast the All-Stars live. Now that the number of live broadcasts is increasing, the NBA should be willing to continue to be free.
At least, for this fishing, you need to have more nests, right?
At this time, David Stern was waiting for a call from CCTV.
The Pistons and Bulls met in the second round. Because of Zhou Quan's relationship, he thought this was an opportunity, and CCTV was likely to choose to broadcast the series live.
On the 6th, the series continues.
This morning, the NBA received a call from CCTV. David Stern was very happy to hear that CCTV was going to broadcast the second round series between the Bulls and the Pistons. He had been looking forward to this call from CCTV for a long time.
"It's free. If CCTV is willing to broadcast all subsequent series, including the finals, we can provide free satellite signal resources."
After receiving the NBA's reply, the sports department was very happy and immediately began to form a commentary team and camera team to go to the United States. It was still Son Jinping, plus Zhang Lili.
And this time, it is not the previous recorded broadcast, but a real-time broadcast, so we are not going to do any frontline interviews + rear commentary, we will go directly to the frontline to commentate, and have a commentary box at the scene.
This is because CCTV simply cannot find a professional enough NBA commentator. It would be better to have one less link and the effect would be better.
After Zhang Lili received the news in Los Angeles, he jumped with joy. He immediately resigned from the beer company and prepared to devote himself to basketball-related matters.
Now that CCTV will broadcast the second round of the playoffs, it is likely to broadcast the regular season next season, and he needs to be prepared first.
For this live broadcast alone, a large amount of information must be collected, from the Pistons to the Bulls, and even the Knicks and Cavaliers. Otherwise, no one will provide these things when commentating in the future, and CCTV will refer to them all. Got him.
"Xiao Zhou, a piece of good news..."
Then he contacted Zhou Quan and told him the good news.
"real?"
Zhou Quan is of course very happy, and he very much hopes that more Chinese people can watch his game.
That night, the Knicks defeated the Nets and advanced with a score of three to one.
In this way, all the first-round series in the Eastern Conference have been played, and the second-round games have also come out. The Bulls face the Pistons, and the Knicks face the Cavaliers. The former has the home court advantage.
The second round between the Bulls and Pistons will start at No. 9, and the Knicks and Cavaliers will start at No. 10.
In the Western Conference, the Jazz lost and tied with the SuperSonics 2-2.
In addition, the Suns won another game and won two consecutive away games, which also tied the score and once again stood on the same level as the Lakers.
After the equalizer, Barkley was even moved to tears after the game.
Tonight, he made 13 of 21 shots, with a shooting percentage of 61.9%, and scored 28 points. He was also the only person on the team to score 20+ points.
On the 7th, the Pistons resumed team training and held a tactical meeting in the morning.
Zhou Quan raised some of his doubts about how the team would organize and play offense after he was restricted by Jordan.
Similarly, he also pointed out that the Bulls' possession of the ball is very even. Even if he targets Jordan, he can't really limit the Bulls' offense. What's more, it is impossible for him to target Jordan. No one can target that guy.
In response to his problem, the whole team discussed it and put forward some suggestions and ideas.
On the defensive end, Chuck Daly decided to work on the Bulls' passing game, which meant cutting off or delaying the ball movement in the triangle offense.
This is the question Zhou Quan just raised. The Bulls have very even possession of the ball, so as long as they limit the Bulls' passing, they can limit their offense.
But this requires everyone on the court to keep an eye on their own players, which is quite difficult. At least Ulrich can't keep an eye on Pippen.
However, the method has been proposed. Whether it can be implemented on the court is the player's business. The coaching staff has no way to replace the players in the game.
On the offensive end, Chuck Daly also came up with his solution to the problem raised by Zhou Quan, which was to let him get the ball in.
In the four regular season games, they won the first two and lost the next two games when the Bulls changed their formation. However, Chuck Daly seized on a weakness of the Bulls' formation, that is, although the Bulls did not need a point guard and increased their height, But as the altitude increases, the speed will inevitably decrease, and this is Zhou Quan's opportunity.
The Bulls don't have any strong defenders inside. Grant and Cartwright work hard on defense, but they can't be called strong players. This is something that can be exploited.
…
The Bulls and Pistons have been bitter rivals for many years. Zhou Quan has replaced the Smiling Assassin, and he and Jordan are irresolvable mortal enemies. At the same time, this series is the first to start. Jordan is not only the league's signature player, but also the target of the media. So the attention is very high.
Even the first round G5 match between the remaining two groups has received little media attention, and the media has shifted their attention to this series.
On this day, some stars also made various comments on the Bulls-Pistons series.
The ancient behemoth Zhang Dashuai refused to be left alone and accepted an interview with the media. When talking about this series, he said:
“In terms of paper strength, the two teams are about the same, neither has serious injuries, and the coaches are both championship coaches, so the factor that affects the final outcome of the series is the team leader.
And on this point, I am very optimistic about Michael Jordan. I believe in his leadership ability and his ability to stand up at critical moments. He has proven these abilities in so many previous seasons and has also won two consecutive championships. Proved himself among them.
For the same reason, I am not very optimistic about Tekken. He has not really proven his ability to lead a team and stand up at critical moments. He has never proven that he has the ability to dominate a close game.
In last year's Eastern Conference Finals, not only did he fail to prove himself, he actually failed. This is why I don't really believe in him. "
(End of chapter)
