Note: The chapter is wrong, please read the next chapter first and then go back to this chapter.
Phil Jackson nodded and said: "Then we will do it tomorrow night. First, if Iron Fist breaks through with the ball, Michael, you have to guard the first line of defense and try to force him to take action from the outside. If he is breached, it is very likely..."
"Damn Phil!"
Jordan wanted to kick him out, but what do you mean this is possible?
Phil Jackson continued: "Pippen must cover the defense in time, don't come out from the inside, and don't give their two insides an open space near the basket. I would rather let Ulrich get an open space outside."
At this point, he said to Pippen: "Scotty, you can let Ulrich go, just like you did in the G2 game. He doesn't pose much of a threat in the mid-to-long range. Of course, when you are helping to defend, don't Forgot to sever the connection between him and Iron Fist.”
"Understood." Pippen nodded.
"second……"
Phil Jackson added: "If Iron Fist holds the ball outside, you can let him take action and focus on defensive breakthroughs, but you must block him and Joe Dumars, as well as the downward passing angle, and encourage him to pass to Ulrich. ball."
Having said this, he said to Pippen: "Scotty, don't cut off the passing lines of Ulrich and Iron Fist tomorrow night like before. Ulrich gets the ball from the outside and his threat can be ignored." , we need to encourage Iron Fist to pass the ball to Ulrich on the outside.
If Ulrich cuts inside and receives the ball in the penalty area or on the edge, it's up to his teammates inside to deal with him, and you don't need to track back. "
"Let him go completely?" Pippen was startled.
Phil Jackson said: "Your most important defensive task is to trap the iron fist, but when Ulrich receives the ball in an area far away from the penalty area, you need to return to defense, and you have to do it quickly, and try to reduce his hit rate as much as possible.
At the same time, you should note that the main purpose of your flanking attack is to cut off Iron Fist's passing, so when implementing a flanking attack, you must pay attention to cutting off the passing angle. "
"Offensive end..."
Phil Jackson looked at Jordan and said: "Michael, I hope your hand will feel better tomorrow night. I hope you can beat Iron Fist. You definitely have the strength."
"Of course." Jordan gritted his teeth.
"in addition……"
Phil Jackson looked at Pippen again and said to him: "Ulrich has no defense, no rebounds, no assists, only scoring ability, and he can only score close to the paint area. He is a cancer.
Scotty, I hope you suppress him in all aspects, scoring, rebounding, defense, he is our breakthrough tomorrow night.
Tomorrow night's game, whether it's offense or defense, your task is as heavy as Michael's, and you and Michael go hand in hand. "
"I see."
Pippen said in high spirits.
Phil Jackson nodded, full of confidence in tomorrow's game.
In fact, he has always been aware of Ulrich's weaknesses, but has never targeted them. Since last season, he has not touched the Pistons' weaknesses.
He has kept this weakness until now, and only took it out when the Pistons began to pose a real threat to the Bulls.
That night, the Knicks lost to the Cavaliers on the road, with a score of 2-1.
Half an hour later, Mosaic, which had lost two consecutive away games, returned to home and defeated the SuperSonics, and the two sides also tied at 1-2.
On the 16th, the second round continues.
There will be two games this night, the Pistons will face the Bulls at home, and the Spurs will face the Suns at home.
From the afternoon training match, Zhou Quan noticed that his teammates were in a very excited state. He understood it very well, because as long as they win tonight's game, the Pistons will have the match point, and the chance of defeating the Bulls and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals will increase tenfold. , even he was very excited.
He loved this state of excitement and was very happy.
Think about this time last year, he had to do everything possible to improve morale, but now he doesn't need to talk nonsense at all.
However, the result of the game disappointed him. 105:88, the Pistons lost a key game and failed to get the match point at home. Instead, they tied with the Bulls 2-2.
During the game, the Bulls once again adopted the defensive tactics of the G2 game, leaving Ulrich open and letting Pippen double-team him.
And this time it was not only on the outside, when he broke through with the ball, Pippen also attacked from the outside, very fiercely and decisively.
The level of shorting on Ulrich was almost crazy. As long as Ulrich was not close to the paint area, Pippen would let him go.
As a result, the level of flanking on him reached a crazy level, so he was forced to constantly pass the ball to Ulrich's open position.
And in most cases, Ulrich received his pass from the outside before cutting inside. He was not very capable of attacking with the ball. Under Pippen's quick defense, most of them could only He made a hasty jump shot from the outside and his shooting percentage was poor.
The worse the offense is, the more Ulrich wants to score and perform on the offensive end. He is not good at defense, so he reduces his defensive investment.
At the end of the game, Ulrich made 4 of 16 shots and only scored 8 points, which greatly reduced the team's offensive efficiency and ultimately led to the loss.
Zhou Quan also has a great responsibility for this, because Pippen's double attack was too fierce and too fast. He couldn't wait for Ulrich to cut into the penalty area before passing the ball, and most of them were lobs, which gave Pippen a lot. opportunity to defend.
The pass was premature and forced. Jordan blocked the downward passing angle. Pippen cut off the passing route between him and Ulrich. If he didn't release the ball quickly, he would be flanked.
He played 48 minutes by himself, playing the entire game again. He was exhausted and felt frustrated because he hadn't won the game yet.
After the game, Zhang Liyi sighed: "After the game, Zhou Quan made 6 of 14 shots, with a shooting percentage of 42.9%. With this efficiency under the attack of Jordan and Pippen, it is not bad, but he took too few shots. Peng and Jordan didn't give him a chance to make a shot at all, and most of the shots were taken before Pippen's double attack was in place."
Sun Zhenping said: “Also, he made 6 of 6 free throws and 1 of 3 three-pointers. Zhou Quan scored 19 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls.
He still made a lot of mistakes, but he couldn't help it. The double attack was too fierce. He was intercepted once by Jordan, once by Pippen, and twice he made passing errors. "
Zhang Liji smiled and said: "The mistakes are okay. For someone like him who is a big ball-handler, the ball is in his hands, so mistakes are inevitable, and he was flanked by two top defensive players. Four mistakes are not too many."
The main problem tonight is that Ulrich couldn't score. With so much space, he only scored 4 goals. His long-range shooting ability is indeed a huge hole.
In addition, his defense, hey, sometimes it's okay, but most of the time, he just makes up the story. Tonight, Pippen scored 27 points on his head, and his shooting rate was as high as 56%. How can he defend it? ? "
Sun Zhenping said: "Pippen is indeed strong, and his offense is a little better. I think his defense is stronger than Jordan's, he is taller, and his wingspan is as good as Jordan's.
His defensive height can cut off the passing routes of Zhou Quan and Ulrich even when assisting in defense, forcing Zhou Quan to pass the ball with a lob, which gives him the opportunity to defend Ulrich. Chance. "
Zhang Liyi nodded and said: "Jordan had 26 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls tonight, and his shooting percentage was 46%. His performance tonight was better than Zhou Quan's.
The Pistons also arranged for him to be double-teamed, but many of the Bulls' offense relied on Pippen playing Ulrich, avoiding the Pistons' double-teaming power.
I think Phil Jackson seems to have found the Pistons' weakness. Once Ulrich's disadvantage is magnified, there will be serious consequences. I hope the Pistons coaching staff will notice this. "
The defeat of this game made Zhou Quan realize that the team's good condition does not mean that it will definitely win. Once the team's weaknesses are caught, it may be beaten by the opponent.
After the players returned to the locker room, Troy Weaver called Chuck Daly and several other coaches to discuss tonight's game outside.
Weaver's main goal was the lineup. He had no patience with Ulrich and said: "Chuck, Ulrich can't deal with Pippen. He can't guard his offense, his passing, and his rebounds." He can't beat Pippen either. He only averages 3.5 rebounds per game this season, which is much less than Iron Fist. He also has no assists. Once the ball gets into his hands, he can't come out. Can he be replaced as a starter?"
Chuck Daly discussed it with several assistant coaches such as Mars and Wilt and then said: "If Terry Mills is used as the starting small forward, the offense will be okay. He has some mid-to-long-range shooting ability and his rebounding is better than that of Ulri." Strange, but his assist ability is worse and his defense is just as poor. He is no better than Ulrich."
"Where are the others?" Weaver asked hurriedly.
Chuck Daly added: "Polynics is definitely not good either. With a height of 211 centimeters and a tonnage of 114 kilograms, he can move well on the inside, but how can he follow Pippen on the outside?"
"What should we do?"
Weaver was confused and suggested: "Why don't we put Rodman back at the three position and let Polynice play the four position?"
"That's it, the inside defense is over. In addition, Grant pulls outside and cuts inside. Polynis can't keep up at all. Don't forget that Grant is good at cutting inside." Chuck Daly said angrily.
At this time, Musk said: "If we really want to replace Ulrich, we can only let Mark Aguirre play the third position. He has a three-pointer. We have no other choice."
"He was seriously injured and couldn't play much time, and his defense was average. It was impossible to guard against Pippen." Chuck Daly shook his head.
Weaver said: "In the offseason, I plan to trade Ulrich and find a small forward who can shoot mid-range and long-range, can defend and pass the ball."
Chuck Daly was unhappy with Weaver and said, "You'd better let Iron Fist stay first. If he leaves, this team will collapse immediately."
"That's it for today."
Weaver's expression changed, he turned around and left without saying anything else.
After Weaver left, Musk said worriedly: "Chuck, do you think Iron Fist will choose to leave?"
Chuck Daly sighed, with a very tired look on his face, and said: "You should understand his character. His motherland is very weak. Chinese are the lowest class in the United States. Chinese generally keep their heads down in the United States. , but he behaves very strongly here, sometimes even desperate. Why? Because he has a very strong self-esteem.
When he first came the year before last, the violence in the locker room was a problem within the players and the locker room. He chose to stay and did not leave.
But this time it was Weaver who wanted to trade him. This was the management's attitude towards him. We agreed to let him become the boss of this team. He also did a very good job, but now Weaver has broken his promise, so this It's not a locker room issue, I guess...I guess he won't tolerate it. "
After hearing these words, several coaches fell silent for a while.
"Besides, the boss's place..."
Chuck Daly said hesitantly: "We have just won two consecutive championships. In fact, neither the owners nor the management have a strong desire to pursue the championship. In addition, Detroit's economy is declining step by step and the ball market is average. As far as I know, the boss will not increase investment in pursuit of the championship.
After Iron Fist finishes next season, he may be out of his contract. Of course, the team hopes to renew his contract in advance, but how big is the contract?
He and Larry Johnson are rivals, and his performance is stronger than Larry Johnson. Larry Johnson has received such a big contract, how much does he expect from the next contract? If the boss doesn’t want to increase investment, how big a contract can he give? "
At this point, he sighed and said quietly: "If the team is rebuilt again, it will be time for me to leave."
Not only did the Pistons lose tonight, the Suns also lost, tied with the Spurs 2-2.
Barkley once again had a hip performance, making 7 of 20 shots, scoring only 18 points with a 35% shooting rate, and a whopping 6 turnovers. He was completely out of shape.
David Robinson made 9 of 20 shots, a shooting percentage of 45%, and 18 of 23 free throws. He was extremely lethal and scored 36 points.
…
On the morning of the 17th, Zhou Quan opened his eyes and looked at the time. It was already 10 o'clock.
Christina was not around, so it was time to get up. He also got up and opened the curtains. The sunshine outside was very dazzling.
"week……"
Christina came in, holding a newspaper.
"What did you write?"
He took it and read it, Chicago Sports News.
Christina pointed to the front page with a smile on her face.
Zhou Quan took a look, "Hey guys, this damn newspaper said that the Pistons lost last night, and Christina was the culprit."
"Tekken's overall performance was sluggish, probably because too much energy was wasted on Christina Yeri, the French rose."
France Rose caressed Zhou Quan's chest, leaned against him, and smiled teasingly: "Zhou, I can't let the media wrongly accuse me. You'd better let what they say become the truth."
Looking at the roses in front of him that could be picked at any time, Zhou Quan, who had just gotten up, couldn't help but move his index finger.
Unfortunately, the full level of willpower allowed him to suppress the evil thoughts in his heart. At this time, he felt a little painful that his willpower was too firm.
The G5 game was on the 19th. He had two days to rest and adjust. Zhou Quan spent a good day at home and didn't go anywhere.
On this day, the media's attention was almost all on the G5 game between the Bulls and the Pistons. Many stars also came forward to analyze this game. There was no splash in the other games and there was almost no attention.
Most media and stars are still more optimistic about the Bulls, just because the Bulls have the current number one player Michael Jordan.
That night, the Knicks defeated the Cavaliers three times, three to one, and became the first team to get a match point in the second round series.
Then Mosaic won at home and tied with the SuperSonics 2-2.
In this game, Mosaic was in excellent condition. The four top starters scored in double figures, scoring a combined 77 points. The lowest shooting percentage of the four players reached 57%, and the highest shooting percentage of Otis Thorpe was as high as 72.7%. The entire team's shooting percentage was The shooting percentage was as high as 58.7%, while the Sonics only made 40.7%, and only 2 of 11 three-pointers were lost.
This time the Pistons changed their itinerary and decided to go to Chicago on the 19th. Because the distance between the two places was less than 500 kilometers and the flight time was less than an hour. There was only one away game this time, so they simply decided not to spend the night in the away game and finish the game. The game will be back soon.
At noon on the 18th, after lunch, Zhou Quan went to the team for adaptive training.
At 11 a.m. on the 19th, the Pistons got on the plane.
Since she was not staying overnight at the away venue and had to rush back overnight, Christina didn't go this time, and not many people from the wife's group went either.
At a quarter past twelve noon, the Pistons arrived in Chicago.
Lunch was eaten on the plane. It was prepared early. We ate right after we got on the plane. We arrived in Chicago just after we had finished eating.
In the afternoon, I went to the University of Chicago for training. In the evening, the G5 game started.
(End of chapter)
