This evening, there are two second-round series G1 games. The Knicks face the Cavaliers in the East, and the Suns face the Spurs in the West.
The Spurs performed well in the first round series, and David Robinson was praised by the media. Therefore, in this series, many media believe that the Spurs have a greater chance of advancing.
However, in this G1 game, 89:98, the Suns, playing at home, won in the end.
0 of 7 three-pointers and 13 of 23 free throws. These two statistics are the key to the Spurs' loss.
The key players for the Suns to win were Lightning Kevin Johnson and small forward Richard, who scored 25 and 22 points respectively.
The Lightning shot 50% from the field and had 5 steals. He performed very well on both offense and defense. He also played to the level of one of the top point guards in the league today. He is indeed someone who can compete with Magic.
But it was Richard who performed even better. He made 9 of 12 shots and actually hit 75%.
On the contrary, the core of the team, the team's only superstar, Charles Barkley, made only 5 of 21 shots, a shooting percentage of only 23.8%, and only scored 18 points and 10 rebounds including free throws.
"I'm very disappointed with this game. We lost too many opportunities on free throws and three-pointers, otherwise we wouldn't have lost."
After the game, David Robinson, who scored 32 points and shot 65% from the field, told the media very disappointedly.
On the 11th, there are two games, the G2 game between the Pistons and the Bulls, and the G1 game between the Western SuperSonics and Mosaic.
As a result, the media pages on this day, except for the two games last night, were almost all news about the G2 game between the Pistons and the Bulls. There was very little news about the G1 game between the Mosaic and the SuperSonics, and they were basically brushed off.
In the news about the Pistons and Bulls, Jordan accounted for 70% of the page. The US media collectively targeted him because of his influence. Without this influence, the media would not bother to target him.
Zhou Quan has been mentioned by the media more times and occupied more pages than Barkley, Damn, the Lightning, and David Robinson. Jordan is also a big reason for this. If the opponent was not Jordan, his media attention would also be It won't be that big. Basically every three times Jordan is mentioned, he will be mentioned once.
In the morning, the Pistons went to the University of Chicago for training.
There are some international students at the University of Chicago, most of whom are publicly funded. When Zhou Quan came here for training the day before yesterday, he had interactions with some international students.
Ninety-nine out of a hundred of these international students have the idea of immigrating, and they are very strong, and they do not want to return to their country at all.
In other words, the country spends so much money for them to study abroad, but in the end, after they complete their studies, they choose to stay in the United States and become Americans.
But he was not surprised at all, because he himself was an international student and had known about this situation during his two years at UCLA.
When these international students learned that he had not immigrated yet, they were very surprised and did not understand him. They asked him why he did not immigrate, but he did not answer this question.
There is a very important reason why he did not choose to immigrate, because he is different from these international students. He is now engaged in sports, and immigrating to the United States will not be of much help to him.
More importantly, his current achievements, influence, and social status mean that he does not need to immigrate to integrate into this country.
…
At this time, at the Bulls headquarters, the team was conducting an intra-team training match.
Phil Jackson put Jordan on the second team, and Pippen and Grant were on the first team. This was his way of strengthening competition within the team, and it was very effective. In order to perform, players often even punched each other without giving in.
Under his training, the intensity of the Bulls' intra-team competitions even exceeded that of actual combat. This is also one of the important reasons why the Bulls won two consecutive championships. Playing training games as actual combat can quickly improve the team's strength.
Cartwright is injured and will be sidelined for a week. There are still many substitutes inside. Substitute center Wilperdo, Scott Williams and Spencer King can all play the fourth and fifth positions.
Phil Jackson has decided to make Scott Williams the starting center in the G2 game, but it has not been announced yet.
Williams is a good rebounder, even better than Cartwright. With similar playing time, Cartwright's rebounds are only half of Williams's.
In this matchup, he put Williams in the second team and partnered with Jordan. This was an obvious intention to let him start.
He also put Perdo on the first team, partnering with Pippen and Grant.
The match started, and two minutes later, Perdo used an illegal screen on Jordan, which made Jordan a little angry. He stopped the game, pointed at Perdo and warned: "Will, don't use such moves again."
"What are you talking about?" Perdo replied unhappily.
"You know what I mean, okay, that's it for now, just remember what I say." Jordan snorted coldly.
"Keep playing." Phil Jackson shouted from the sidelines.
The match continued, but Perdo made several illegal screens for Jordan. After the fourth time, Jordan threw away the ball in his hand, walked up to Perdo without saying a word, and just punched him. .
"Bang!"
Perdo was caught off guard and knocked down with a punch.
Phil Jackson shook his head helplessly, but he was not surprised, because there are almost no players on the Bulls who have not been beaten by Jordan.
"Will, don't be impulsive, calm down."
"Vir, don't mess around."
At this time, other players swarmed up and grabbed Perdo who was getting up to fight back.
Grant was very angry because Wilperdo was his good friend. Jordan had beaten him before, and now he was beating Perdo. He could hit whoever he wanted. He wanted to beat Jordan once, just like Iron Fist did.
It's a pity that he knows very well that if he dares to take action, everyone here may hold him down and let Jordan beat him in turn. He does not have the courage of the Iron Fist, let alone the skill of the Iron Fist.
Of course, this matter was ignored, because it was too common in the Bulls.
…
Evening, 7:30, United Center Arena.
Pistons: Seikaly, Dennis Rodman, Ulrich, Joe Dumars, Zhou Quan
Bulls: Scott Williams, Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen, John Paxson, Michael Jordan
"Yesterday the Bulls announced Cartwright's injury. He has a strained lumbar muscle. He will be sidelined for at least ten days. He can still catch up with the G6 game." Bill Walton said.
Lewis Williams said: "Actually, Scott Williams is stronger, but his qualifications are not as good as Cartwright."
At this time, Bill Walton suddenly stared at the screen in front of him and said in surprise: "Look, Wilperdo's left eye is darkened. Did he stay up late?"
"Pfft, one eye is black? Haha..."
Lewis Williams laughed out loud, and Bill Walton laughed himself as he finished speaking.
It's not a big discovery. The two of them don't talk about this anymore. They are both insiders. Moreover, Jordan doesn't just hit his teammates. He also often punches his opponents during the game. He hits people on the court much more times than Zhou Quan. , but the intensity of the fight was not as good as Zhou Quan's, so the impact was smaller.
At the scene, a reporter saw the dark circles under Perdo's eyes and quickly asked: "Vell, what's going on?"
How dare Perdo say that Jordan hit him, he hesitated: "I fell."
"Were you beaten?" The reporter asked loudly without any worries.
"No, of course not, I just fell." After speaking, Perdo hurriedly went on the field to warm up.
"It must have been Jordan again."
"I can guarantee it 100%."
Some reporters were talking a lot and were very happy that they had something to write about again.
At eight o'clock, the game officially begins.
Jump ball, Bulls attack.
"Look at how the Pistons defended Jordan." Zhang Lili said.
Three seconds later, he said: "It's very clear. Everyone is following their own man, and there is no obvious sign of assisting in defense. The Pistons are still keeping an eye on others as they were the day before yesterday, and Zhou Quan will defend Jordan alone."
"brush!"
On the first shot, Jordan caught the ball and made a jumper after cutting outside, and hit a mid-range shot. Zhou Quan was half a beat late.
"No matter how good the defense is, it can't stop this kind of shooting technique."
Zhang Lili said, and then he added: "The Bulls' offense is still a triangle tactic. Jordan uses Grant's pick-and-roll to get rid of Zhou Quan, and then takes the opportunity to catch the ball."
Sun Zhenping smiled and said: "If the Pistons still defend Jordan alone, he can actually play with the ball."
Zhang Lili was startled, then nodded quickly and said: "That's true. The essence of the triangle tactic is to create singles opportunities for him. If you don't double-team him, you can really hit Zhou Quan directly with the ball."
But the Bulls need to be more careful. Tactics can change at any time. If Jordan really keeps holding the ball in isolation, the Pistons may have to change their defensive tactics.
There is a big difference in this. Man-to-man defense cannot double-team the person without the ball, but it can double-team the person holding the ball. If Jordan holds the ball, the threat is too great, and the Pistons will most likely double-team him. "
Looking back, the Pistons attack.
"Let's see how the bull defends himself." Zhang Lili said.
After watching for a few seconds, Sun Zhenping said: "Coach Zhang, Pippen's position is deliberately close to Zhou Quan. It seems that the Bulls intend to double-team him on the outside?"
At this moment, Zhou Quan was double-teamed, and Pippen suddenly pounced from the left wing. He immediately chose to pass the ball to Ulrich.
"boom!"
Pippen quickly returned to defense, and Ulrich took a mid-range shot from a small gap, but missed.
Scott Williams protected the backcourt rebound and the Bulls attacked.
"It's really a double team from the outside."
Nodding, Zhang Lili said seriously: "It seems that the Bulls attach great importance to the destructive power of Zhou Quan's passing. Are they trying to lock his passing key through a flank attack? Two top perimeter defenders flank one person. This The defensive pressure is extremely huge.”
"It should be." Sun Zhenping agreed.
But Zhang Li thought for a while and said: "Something is wrong. This kind of outside attack is difficult to lock Zhou Quan's passing key. What are the Bulls' intentions?"
After playing 9 minutes in the first quarter, he finally understood the Bulls' purpose. At this time, the Bulls were already leading by 7 points.
He said in surprise: "I understand, the Pistons used a lot of cutting tactics in the G1 game. Most of Zhou Quan's assists came from passing to teammates who cut inside. This is also the reason why the Pistons' offensive efficiency was very high in the last game. Because the inside cutting tactic has improved a lot of basket offense for the Pistons.
Today, the Bulls double-teamed Zhou Quan on the outside. Their ultimate goal was not to lock his passing. The Bulls must know that this is impossible, so their real purpose is to force Zhou Quan to pass the ball in advance by double-teaming Zhou Quan on the outside. , speeding up the offensive and defensive rhythm, allowing the Pistons to complete the offense in a hurry, and there is no chance to use inside tactics. "
"That's right! No wonder we rarely see the Pistons playing inside tactics today. There are much fewer attacks at the basket and in the low post than in the G1 game." Sun Zhenping suddenly realized.
Chuck Daly obviously realized the Bulls' purpose. After calling a timeout, he said to the players: "From now on, once someone is open, cut inside immediately and try to get as close to the basket as possible before shooting. Don't just shoot outside. We have to Improve offensive efficiency.”
However, this small adjustment did not solve the problem. The Bulls rotated very quickly, with Pippen mainly performing the flanking attack, but each time only left a small opening for Ulrich, and Ulrich's touch today was average. , did not play an efficient offense, and made many passing and receiving errors with Zhou Quan.
After the inside tactics failed, the focus of the offense was shifted to Joe Dumars. Even Zhou Quan gave the ball to Joe Dumars. Unfortunately, Joe Dumas felt average today and did not hit John Paxson's head. Play a deadly attack.
At the end of the first half, at 41:55, the Pistons were already 14 points behind.
Zhou Quan made 3 of 8 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 9 points. This is not important. The key is that he made 25 passes in the first half and only received 3 assists.
That is to say, after he passes the ball, the receiver usually does not get the opportunity to take an open shot. The open space left by the Bulls in other positions because of the Bulls flanking him has actually been filled in through quick rotation when he passed the ball. On.
On the defensive end, he stole Jordan once, stole Pippen once, and rushed in to block Grant once. Through his personal defense, he caused a total of 6 Bulls turnovers.
However, he also made three turnovers in his own half, one interception by Jordan and two pass errors. Ulrich and Joe Dumars each failed to catch his pass once.
In the third quarter, he stepped up his shots while being double-teamed. His first-class shooting skills only allowed him to make 4 of 11 shots, with a shooting percentage of only 36.4%.
In the final quarter, he started to break through crazily with the ball, but the whistle went against him. This was his home court, and he was called for an offensive foul, a walking violation, and a wrist roll.
In the end, the Pistons were unable to recover, losing the G2 game 88:102, and tied with the Bulls one to one.
Zhou Quan made 10 of 25 shots in 42 minutes, shooting 40% from the field, including 2 of 5 three-pointers and 5 of 6 free throws. He scored 27 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls.
"I said we will get back on track and we did. Next, we will play the state we need in the away games."
In the post-game interview, Jordan, who scored 36 points, excitedly told the media.
"Tekken, are you satisfied with your performance in this game?" On his way back to the locker room, a reporter followed Zhou Quan for an interview.
"Of course there are some problems, I can do better." He said.
"Were you mentally prepared to be double-teamed by the Bulls before the game?" the reporter asked again.
"To be honest, I have, because they did that in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, and I am stronger now than I was then, but they only did it for a short period of time at that time, but they kept doing it tonight." He said. road.
"Later, you also changed your defensive strategy and tried your best to double-team Jordan. Jordan shot 48% tonight and was also double-teamed. He is eight percentage points higher than you. Do you think there is an offensive gap between you and him? How old is it?" another reporter asked.
"There is indeed a considerable gap and I need to admit that," he said.
"What else do you expect from this series?" the reporter asked.
"We've won a road game, and the Bulls haven't, so we have a better advantage in the series now, and you know that, so I'm still looking forward to it."
After he said this, he had already walked to the door of the locker room and ended the interview.
Others came in one after another. Zhou Quan stood up and closed the door of the locker room, and then said: "Guys, it's just a defeat. I never thought about sweeping the Bulls this time. We don't have that kind of strength, so don't be disappointed. Let’s go back home and fuck them.”
The assassin said loudly: "Iron Fist is right. In the next two home games, we will play better and try to win them all."
Everyone nodded and their morale stabilized.
Zhou Quan sat down and said with a smile: "It would be great to win both home games. That is the best result, but we must also be mentally prepared.
This is not a question of confidence, but a question of insufficient mental preparation. We must consider all consequences.
There is an old saying in our country. Maybe you have heard of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Think about defeat before thinking about victory, so you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
This means that before considering victory, we should first consider the situation of failure. This will allow us to have enough psychological preparation to face any difficult and possible situations, so that we will not lose our position. "
Through his psychological adjustment, the Pistons players became more psychologically stable, and the atmosphere in the locker room became more relaxed.
"Tekken, what major did you study at UCLA?" the assassin asked curiously.
"Buildings," he said.
"I thought you studied psychology." The assassin smiled.
"You want to be an architect?" Joe Dumas asked with a smile.
"Of course, I want to design the tallest building in the world, but I'm afraid this wish won't come true. I haven't graduated from my undergraduate degree yet," he said with a smile.
(End of chapter)
