At half past six, in the evening, the Knicks bus arrived at Madison Square Garden.
The players got out of the car and a crowd of waiting reporters swarmed up.
"Charles, Tekken Haoyan will fight the world boxing champion in the future. He is the killer king of Detroit, and you are the killer king of New York. He said he would give you a chance last time, so do you still have the confidence to challenge him in the ring? ” asked a reporter from the New York Times loudly.
Oakley's old face was dark, and he said in a dull voice: "My nickname is Old Oak. You called the wrong person, the New York Murder King. That is the nickname Mason wanted."
"Anthony Mason?" The reporter was startled and looked at Mason.
Mason was grinning from ear to ear, shaking his head and saying: "Thank you, boss. Don't worry, if Iron Fist beats you again next time, I will definitely stand up and take the beating with you."
"asshole!"
When Oakley heard smoke coming out of his nose, he turned around and kicked him.
"Crack, click, click..."
Seeing that a civil war was about to break out in the Knicks, a group of reporters excitedly started pressing the shutters of their cameras.
"You're kidding, you're kidding, boss, you have no emotional intelligence at all." Mason said with a smile as he nimbly dodged Oakley's kick.
Oakley snorted coldly and was too lazy to pay attention to Mason's joke. He stopped accepting interviews from media reporters and left first.
"Patrick, are you confident that you can get through the Pistons in this series?" A group of reporters immediately pestered Ewing.
Ewing followed Oakley forward while considering how to respond. He murmured for a long time without saying a word. He was almost reaching the locker room. Several reporters became impatient and turned around and ran to the visiting team's locker room. Too lazy to interview Ewing.
Ewing was relieved when he saw the reporter leaving.
At this time, after dinner, Zhou Quan wore a peaked cap and sunglasses and came outside Madison Square Garden. He drank a cup of coffee in the cafe and then wandered for a while to eat.
He is still very familiar with this place. It was here that he won the 1991 NCAA Hockey Hardcore Championship. Then that night, he used the attention of the championship to declare his participation in the NBA and NHL drafts.
The current Madison Square Garden is the fourth generation of the garden. It consists of a 32-story building, two cultural centers, and the main arena. Underground is Penn Station, one of the largest train stations in the United States.
This sky garden hosts at least 300 large-scale events every year. It is rarely empty. 60% of them are sports events and 40% are non-sports events. It is the best-run arena in the world.
New York is the financial center of the world, so Manhattan is the center of New York, and Midtown, where the garden is located, is the center of Manhattan.
Land here is really precious, not far from the United Nations Headquarters. He feels that if he buys a high-rise property here, there should be good room for appreciation. As long as the financial industry in the United States does not collapse, there should be no chance of house prices falling here. .
At seven o'clock, Madison Square Garden opened the gates and fans poured in, filling the arena that can accommodate nearly 20,000 people very quickly.
Zhou Quan has returned to the locker room and started changing clothes with his teammates.
At 7:30, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Knicks: Ewing, Charles Smith, Charles Oakley, John Starks, Doc Rivers
Pistons: Polynice, Ronny Seikaly, Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, Zhou Quan
The Eastern Conference Finals were broadcast live across the United States on TNT, with the commentators Robert Guida and Ringo Wilson.
Both were surprised when they saw the Pistons' starting lineup.
Robert Guida said: "Polynics is the starter. He can only play the fourth and fifth positions. It is impossible to defend Ewing. Should we defend Oakley or Smith?"
Ringo Wilson analyzed: "The Pistons don't have any inside defenders who can guard Ewing. Rodman is the backbone of inside defense. He was just selected for the defensive first team, but his height is a disadvantage and he can't guard Ewing. But except for him, the Pistons have no one else. Will not work."
"The Pistons' interior defense is a problem!" Robert Guida said.
"Lean on the outside. The Pistons have the advantage on the outside. The Knicks' inside line is not comparable to that of the Bulls. To be honest, the Bulls' inside line is terrible." Ringo Wilson said.
In the CCTV commentary box, Zhang Lili said: "To defend against a super center like Ewing, we must rely on assisting defense. In the case of single defense, let alone ordinary centers, even super centers at the same level as Ewing cannot be defended. Damn it, super centers can often cause mutual explosions when defending alone.
When Polynis starts the lineup, he should use his size to offset Ewing and provide opportunities for Rodman and Sekali to assist in defense. They are both light in weight and not slow in movement. I hope they can help in defense. Able to meet the team's expectations. "
"Coach Zhang, do you think it will be harder for the Pistons to beat the Knicks or the Bulls?" Sun Zhenping asked.
Zhang Lili hesitated for a while and then said: "Judging from the regular season performance, it is more difficult for the Pistons to beat teams with strong inside lines, such as the SuperSonics, teams with three super centers, such as Mutombo's Nuggets. .
However, the Pistons and the Knicks have played a total of four games this season, with two wins and two losses. The wins and losses are still evenly divided, which shows that the Pistons have the advantage of the Pistons. As long as they play well, they still have a good chance of reaching the finals. "
"The outside advantage is quite large. As long as we perform well, we should indeed have a chance." Sun Zhenping nodded.
Zhang Liji picked up a compiled statistics table and said: "This is the official data I got from the NBA. It is a comparison of the Pistons and Knicks data.
In terms of rebounds, the Pistons average 2.8 more rebounds per game, 2.5 more points per game, 5.1 more points conceded per game, 2.2 more assists per game, 0.8 more steals per game, and 2.4 fewer blocks per game. He averaged 3.1 fewer free throws per game and his field goal percentage was 1 percentage point lower.
Based on these data, if the Pistons want to win, rebounding is the key, the offense must be strong, the organization of assists must be good, and in terms of steals, if Zhou Quan can perform as he did in the last game, it will be very important. In these aspects, the Pistons advantages, we must maintain our own advantages. "
At this time, in the player tunnel, the starting lineups of the two teams met.
In addition to the players, Pat Riley also arranged a team of security personnel. He was worried that Oakley provoked Zhou Quan. If he was beaten off the court, he would not even get a whistle, and the beating would be in vain and he would be injured. morale.
Enemies were extremely jealous when they met. Oakley's eyes turned red when he saw Zhou Quan.
"Oakley, I heard that you gave up the nickname of New York Killer King to Mason. Is it true?" Zhou Quan said with a smile.
Oakley snorted coldly and turned away to ignore Zhou Quan.
"So arrogant?" Zhou Quan laughed.
"Haha..." Rodman immediately responded with a strange laugh.
"Shut up, damn bug!"
Oakley's face flashed with anger and he shouted at Rodman.
Rodman's eyes shrank, he actually closed his mouth, and unconsciously took a step behind Zhou Quan.
He really didn't dare to provoke a vicious person like Oakley off the court. If it weren't for Zhou Quan beside him, how would he dare to laugh?
Zhou Quan looked back at Rodman, smiled, and turned to Oakley and said, "What, old guy, can't my people smile here?"
"You?" Oakley choked.
"Smile, make me laugh. Guys, in this alliance, no one is qualified to be arrogant and domineering in front of us." Zhou Quan greeted loudly.
"Ha ha……"
With Zhou Quan's courage, Rodman immediately laughed strangely, and then everyone else followed suit. Even Joe Dumars smiled in response.
"You bastards!"
Oakley was so angry that his face turned pale and his fists were bleeding, but he did not dare to come up and wave his fist at Zhou Quan.
Zhou Quan sincerely persuaded: "Oakley, I gave you a chance last year. I didn't fight back and let you attack thirty or forty times, but it didn't work for you!
Remember, don't show off your ferocity in front of me in the future. A kitten's hissing cannot scare a tiger. In my eyes, you are the kitten that hisses at the tiger. "
"you?"
Oakley was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
But to be honest, his courage had been shattered by Zhou Quan in the last boxing match. Those thirty-odd punches had left him unable to even swing a punch in front of Zhou Quan. impulse.
In front of Zhou Quan, his little strength was a joke. After that boxing match, he and Larry Johnson were evaluated by the media as the weakest heavyweight professional boxers in history.
"We show up."
At this time, the lights outside went out, the host's voice sounded, and Zhou Quan greeted.
Zhou Quan was the last one to appear. The boos were not loud enough and he felt that he was not happy enough.
"Hey, Julia, I haven't seen you for a long time. It's great to see you!" When he saw Roberts, he warmly gave her a hug.
"Congratulations, Iron Fist, for actually eliminating the Bulls and being selected for the double first team. You are a true superstar." Roberts sent his congratulations.
Then she introduced a man next to her and said, "This is Lyle, my husband."
"Hello, Lyle." Zhou Quan politely extended his right hand.
"Iron Fist, I hope you have good luck tonight." Lyle smiled after shaking hands.
"Thank you! Julia, Lyle, I'll treat you to dinner when you have time, okay tomorrow?" he said.
"No, it's our turn to treat you. In New York, you are the guest, and we are the hosts." Roberts smiled.
"OK, it's settled then."
Zhou Quan smiled and nodded towards the two of them, and continued to greet other people he knew.
He knew about Lyle. In 1991, Roberts caused a big incident because of this country singer. He was already engaged to an actor, and the wedding was only a few days away. However, he broke the contract because of Lyle, and the two eloped. They were shocked. Hollywood.
"Hey, handsome, how about you teach me how to fly a plane when you have time?" he said after fist bumping and shaking hands with Tom Cruise.
Tom Cruise asked casually: "What kind of airplane do you want to fly? I can fly many kinds, jet, propeller, single-wing, double-wing and multi-wing, single-engine, double-engine and multi-engine, land canard, etc., I have them all." license."
Zhou Quan was stunned. Apart from passenger planes, he had never had much contact with airplanes. Are there so many types?
"Ha ha……"
When Tom Krum saw Zhou Quan's look, he smiled proudly.
"You're an amazing guy."
Zhou Quan gave a thumbs up and said as he left: "Then it's agreed, I'll go find you during the offseason."
"OK." Tom Krum said with a smile.
Zhou Quan looked around the auditorium and saw some Chinese faces.
New York is one of the cities with the largest concentration of Chinese, accounting for one-tenth of New York's population. There are now at least half a million Chinese living in the New York metropolitan area, not including a large number of smugglers.
It is a pity that such a large proportion of Chinese people have a good economic situation, but their political status is at the lowest level, and few Chinese are willing to participate in political activities.
"Hey there."
"Oh, Iron Fist saw us."
He waved to the Chinese people he saw, and those Chinese people immediately stood up excitedly and waved and shouted at him.
…
At eight o'clock, the game officially begins.
Jump ball, Knicks offense.
Zhou Quan defended Doc Rivers and Joe Dumars defended John Starks.
Their defensive task today is not only to lock down the Knicks' back line on the defensive end, but also to blow up the opponent on the offensive end. The task is very heavy. They must maximize the Pistons' advantage on the back line to have a chance to defeat the Knicks. Victory over Sri Lanka's head.
Doc Rivers is 193 centimeters tall, which is only two centimeters taller than Zhou Quan. He looks about the same, but in terms of wingspan, Zhou Quan has the advantage, so in terms of height, he actually has the advantage.
The tonnage is 84 kilograms, which is 6 kilograms lighter, and its combat capability is much inferior to Zhou Quan's.
Even in terms of speed, due to its lighter tonnage, it is barely the same as Zhou Quan, and its explosive power is far inferior to Zhou Quan.
Ewing entered the basket, Polynis moved forward, and Zhou Quan blocked Rivers' downward passing angle. He immediately left the basket and came to the low post on the left wing to ask for the ball.
Rivers approached the top of the key and passed the ball to Charles Oakley who connected outside the left three-point line.
"Snapped!"
The moment he passed the ball, Zhou Quan stepped forward very quickly, stretched out his right arm, thrust with his big hand, and took the ball away as he swept past him.
"Oh, steal the ball, Iron Fist steals the ball!" Robert Guida shouted excitedly.
"The reaction is too fast and the hands are accurate. No wonder Iron Fist hopes to develop in professional boxing. He does have that talent." Ringo Wilson said in surprise.
"boom!"
Neither John Starks nor Doc Rivers could catch up with Zhou Quan who took advantage of the situation to counterattack. Zhou Quan took the ball across the free throw line and took off, using a powerful chop from the crotch and changing hands, detonating Knicks basket.
"Oh ho!"
Hundreds of Pistons fans who came to New York with the team cheered excitedly.
New York is no better than Chicago. Tickets are a bit more expensive, and they are further away. The cost is too high. Detroit fans have poor spending power, so there are not many fans coming to the away game this time, only five or six hundred people.
"Doug, watch out for his steals!"
The majestic Pat Riley scolded sternly with a straight face.
Rivers nodded repeatedly, not daring to respond.
The Knicks attacked again, and this time Doc Rivers stepped up his guard against Zhou Quan, deliberately widening the distance from Zhou Quan when passing the ball.
Oakley caught the ball, avoided Sekali and passed it in.
Ewing caught the ball, and Polynice blocked the back. His defensive strength was not small. He suddenly swung the ball upwards with both hands, and then turned around and slid to the bottom. Polynis was shaken for a moment, and he couldn't keep up with the rhythm. Suddenly.
Rodman, who was guarding Smith on the right waist, had been staring at the strong side and immediately returned to defend the basket. However, Ewing ignored his return and took a step into the paint before dunking.
"boom!"
Rodman took a step slower, and the Pistons' basket was exploded.
"Polynics can't do it. His defensive strength is too poor and he couldn't get a chance for Rodman to make up the defense." Zhang Lili shook his head.
"Let's try again. If it doesn't work, let's see how the piston adjusts." Sun Zhenping said.
2:2, Pistons attack.
In the frontcourt, Seikali is in the low left wing. He still plays the fifth position on the offensive end, opposite Ewing.
Rodman moved from the low post on the right wing to the basket, defended by Oakley.
Polynice is not good at anything else, but he is good at rebounding. He averages 6 rebounds in 18 minutes per game and is a bit of a mid-range shooter. He has no fixed position on the offensive end. He pulls out and moves around the edge of the paint area, waiting for opportunities. Go in and get a rebound, or set a screen for a teammate, guarded by Charles Smith.
Close to the right sideline, Zhou Quan advanced with the ball, and the Knicks switched defenses, with John Starks guarding him.
John Starks is one of the three toughest players in the Knicks. The other two are Oakley and Mason. They are also very grumpy, tough, and extremely competitive. Even Jordan refused to accept it. He even once During team training, he tried to dunk Ewing, but was thrown down by Ewing and injured his knee.
This time he was just selected to the defensive second team and won the first hard honor of his career. It was a time when he was high-spirited. Even against Zhou Quan, who was playing double first team, he was full of courage. As soon as he came up, he started talking trash.
"Hey, Iron Fist, if you dare, beat me up, otherwise you won't be able to pass my level."
"What?"
It was the first time Zhou Quan saw someone begging for torture. It turned out that he was not from the same group. If he didn't come into the same house, the boy and Oakley in front of him were both overestimating their abilities!
"I heard you were called crazy?"
Zhou Quan asked casually as he entered the frontcourt against Starks, who was the same height as him but only 82 kilograms.
"Yes, you can call it that." John Starks said proudly.
"Are you crazy enough to use your hobby to challenge my major?" Zhou Quan teased.
"What?"
John Starks was stunned.
"Pfft!"
Several football stars and Hollywood stars sitting at the head also burst out laughing when they heard this. Tom Cruise had already covered his face with laughter.
John Starks reacted and said angrily: "Basketball is also my major, what are you talking about?"
"Are you actually a professional basketball player?" Zhou Quan said in surprise.
"Ha ha……"
The people who heard it on the sidelines were laughing loudly.
John Starks was furious and vowed to fight Zhou Quan if he were not afraid of Zhou Quan's fists.
(End of chapter)
