At this time, Zhou Quan advanced to two steps beyond the three-point line, suddenly exerted force, accelerated and stepped past, trying to overpower his opponent.
As John Starks moved sideways, the two men's shoulders were instantly linked together. He groaned and was almost knocked to the ground, while Zhou Quan suddenly passed by and entered the flank.
"Beautiful!" Zhang Lili shouted.
Seeing Zhou Quan coming over, Doc Rivers, who was defending Joe Dumars on the right wing, could only make up the defense and establish a second line of defense.
But Zhou Quan quickly passed the ball to Joe Dumars, then bypassed Joe Dumars and Rivers and ran to the right elbow.
Joe Dumars caught the ball without pausing and passed it back to Zhou Quan who cut inside through Rivers. Zhou Quan received the ball and reached the right elbow area in one step.
Polynice and Charles Smith were in the high post, and Smith immediately covered up to establish a third line of defense.
Seeing Smith's timely defense, Oakley in the right low post did not come up, and the same went for Ewing in the left low post.
Zhou Quan's passing threat is too high, and they don't dare to just throw away their own people to cover up the defense. Otherwise, Seikali and Rodman will cut inside to the basket, and Zhou Quan's passing ability will be a fatal blow. .
The next moment, Zhou Quan exerted force at his feet again, accelerated and stepped past the opponent. He easily broke through the relatively slow-moving Smith and flew into the paint area in one step.
This time, Ewing and Oakley were caught off guard. They didn't expect it to be so easy for Zhou Quan to break through Smith, and they were half a beat too slow to return to defense.
But they all tried their best to defend and formed a closing attack in front of the basket.
"boom!"
With a tomahawk-style dunk, one blow broke the half-beat closed-door defense of Ewing and Oakley, and Zhou Quan blasted the Knicks' basket for the second time.
"Thank you both for your cooperation. It was just perfect. You guys definitely deserve the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor."
After completing the dunk, Zhou Quan also threw out a trash talk. Oakley was so angry that he gritted his teeth and Ewing also had a stern face.
The Knicks attacked, and Zhou Quan defended and retreated in the backcourt. His strong defensive momentum shocked Doc Rivers, who was advancing with the ball, making him feel that the basketball in his hand was a hot potato and he wanted to pass it early. go out.
"Rivers, the ball in your hand belongs to me, you'd better give it back to me." Zhou Quan also spat out trash talk.
"What?"
Rivers was startled.
"Chance!"
In an instant, Zhou Quan made the quickest response to steal the ball. He stepped forward and poked the ball. The moment he poked the ball away, he rushed over, stretched out his big hand, struck accurately, and pulled the ball up with a quick blast. , successfully completed the steal.
"Oh, damn, Rivers' ball was broken again! Is he sleepwalking?" an on-site commentator yelled angrily.
John Starks pursued the defense from the left wing with all his strength, but his speed was not fast. This was his talent flaw, otherwise he would not have been selected and failed to catch up.
"boom!"
Zhou Quan blasted the Knicks' basket three times.
"Oh ho!"
Hundreds of Pistons fans cheered heartily, and a large number of players and celebrities sitting in the front row clapped and cheered.
Spike Lee, the Knicks' biggest die-hard fan, jumped in anger when he saw Zhou Quan dunk three goals in a row and steal twice in the opening game.
"Is this the main point guard that Coach Pat Riley traded for Mark Jackson from the Clippers?" Another on-site commentator said in a mocking tone.
6:2, the Knicks attacked and called a timeout after serving.
Pat Riley's expression was extremely stern, and even the villain Oakley lowered his head in front of him, not daring to do anything violent.
He stared at Doc Rivers and scolded him sternly: "Doug Rivers, where are you paying attention to the game? You were intercepted twice in less than two minutes. Do you want to win with an iron fist on your head in the first half?" To ten steals?"
Doc Rivers kept his mouth shut, feeling like he was about to be benched.
Sure enough, the next moment, Pat Riley said to Blackman: "Rolando, come on."
"Yes, coach." Blackman nodded calmly.
The Knicks have no absolute main force at the back. Even John Starks only started 51 games, Doc Rivers only started 45 games, and Blackman was also an important rotation defender, starting 33 games.
He is an 81-year veteran and four-time All-Star backup guard. He averaged 20+ points per game in three seasons during his peak period. He has averaged 18.5 points per game so far in his career. He mainly plays the second position. His shoes are 198 centimeters tall and 86 kilograms. Now he is He is old and facing retirement.
The reason why Pat Riley replaced him was mainly to use his experience to push the ball across the half court. He warned: "Rolando, Tekken's stealing ability is extremely strong. You can't be careless. Our ball rights cannot Lose it again.”
"I understand." Blackman nodded.
Riley was still worried. He estimated that Blackman wouldn't be able to defeat Iron Fist. Iron Fist was too powerful at the one position and could even compete with Jordan. He didn't have such a powerful top offensive and defensive point guard that could compete with him. candidate.
If the No. 1 position is suppressed by Iron Fist and Joe Dumars, how will the Knicks fight? No matter how strong the inside line is, the outside line is still needed to control the ball.
The timeout ends and the game resumes.
Zhou Quan couldn't help but smile when he saw Blackman coming on.
In an important series like the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks are the team with the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference and are an old rival of the Pistons. He knows the Knicks' lineup very well, and of course he also knows Blackman very well.
He didn't understand why Pat Riley sent such a veteran up. Can experience really make up for degraded athleticism?
The Knicks serve from the left sideline of the frontcourt.
On the left wing, Blackman kept running back, but Zhou Quan was much faster than him, not a little faster. He couldn't get rid of Zhou Quan at all and couldn't get the chance to catch the ball.
Charles Smith, who finally served, passed the ball to John Starks who retreated near the center line, but Joe Dumars immediately chased him and blocked him at the center line.
Facing the Knicks, who have the strongest defense in the league, Chuck Daly's tactical strategy is simple.
On the defensive end, use the Pistons' stronger back line to lock down the Knicks' perimeter and disrupt the opponent's offense.
On the offensive end, more fast breaks and more defensive counterattacks will prevent the opponent from establishing a strong defensive system.
So far so well executed.
This time, seeing Joe Dumars controlling John Starks in the middle, Zhou Quan immediately pounced on him without any hesitation.
"here."
Blackman is indeed experienced. After all, he is a four-time All-Star guard. As soon as Zhou Quan left, he shouted for the ball and ran towards the midline.
It's a pity that Joe Dumars' defense is so good, and when Zhou Quan was flanking, his position also cut off the passing and receiving route, forcing John Starks to be unable to pass the ball, and then Zhou Quan pounced When he got to his side, he could only pass the ball to Oakley who retreated to the center line on the right wing.
Oakley caught the ball, but he had no ability to hold the ball. After Seikali defended in front, he could only stop where he was, holding the ball high with both hands, preparing to transfer the ball away.
Pat Riley shouted angrily: "Go and respond quickly."
John Starks ran over quickly, and Oakley quickly threw the hot potato out, but as soon as John Starks caught the ball, Joe Dumas and Zhou Quan, who were catching up, made dumplings of him.
"Snapped!"
Zhou Quan reached out and hit the ball accurately from the hands of John Starks. The three immediately scrambled for a ball. In the end, Joe Dumars grabbed the ball and the two collaborated to complete a steal.
In the next moment, he immediately turned around and stepped down, crossing the center line in one step. Joe Dumas passed the ball, and he caught the ball and strode towards the basket.
In the counterattack launched from the center line, except for John Starks who lost the ball, everyone else in the Knicks had given up on returning to defense.
"boom!"
Zhou Quan took off after crossing the free throw line, turned around 360 degrees, and then dunked hard with one hand, smashing the Knicks' basket for the fourth time.
"Pa bang bang..."
This time, Madison Square Garden actually erupted in enthusiastic applause.
Zhou Quan took a look and found that not only Pistons fans and Chinese fans, but also many Knicks fans were applauding him this time.
Pat Riley did not expect that his team would have such a start. They were intercepted three times at the beginning, allowing the opponent to counterattack continuously. He stopped roaring because it was meaningless and made the players more nervous.
In the TNT commentary box, Robert Guida said: "Linger, I now realize a problem. If the Knicks can't solve the problem on the perimeter, that is, if they can't solve the defense of Joe Dumars and Iron Fist, their ball will continue to pass. There will be no opportunities for the inside players, so in this series, they are likely to face a more difficult situation than the Bulls."
Ringo Wilson nodded in agreement: “Two wins and two losses in the regular season, this record can no longer be used as evidence to evaluate the strength comparison between the two teams in the Eastern Conference Finals series.
When Iron Fist and Joe Dumars burst out with powerful defensive energy, the Pistons can form a force that can kill the Knicks on the outside.
And if the Knicks can't cope, they may indeed be worse than the Bulls. After all, the Bulls have reached the tiebreaker, and the Knicks may not even have a chance to win the tiebreaker. "
Robert Guida said: "The Knicks' defense is strong overall, but they only have one defensive second team, while the Pistons have two defensive first teams and one second team. In fact, if it weren't for the Iron Fist, Joe Dumars would have been selected to the defensive first team again. , so the Pistons should be considered a three-defense team. The Pistons do have the strength to form strong defensive pressure on the Knicks locally."
Ringo Wilson said: "I think the Knicks should find a breakthrough and focus on Seikali and Polynis. These two positions are the Pistons' defensive weaknesses. This is why the Pistons' overall defense is not as good as the Knicks."
But at this point, he smiled bitterly and said: "But now the Pistons have locked up the Knicks' perimeter, giving the Knicks no chance to focus on their weaknesses."
"It's still a tactical issue. It's not that the Pistons are necessarily stronger than the Knicks. Pat Riley should find a solution. He still needs to observe, it takes time, and the players also need to adapt to the process." Robert Guida said.
As the game continued on the court, the Pistons still put strong defensive pressure on the Knicks on the outside, trying to destroy the opponent's offense on the outside, prevent the ball from entering the inside, and then try their best to find opportunities for fast breaks.
The Knicks made a lot of mistakes. They made 5 turnovers in half a quarter, including two passing errors and three steals. In the sixth minute, 19:8, the Pistons' away lead reached double digits, and then Pa. Trailly called a second timeout.
Zhou Quan made 5 of 6 shots, 4 of which were fast breaks after defensive counterattacks, all of which were successful. He made 1 of 2 shots in the positional battle. He scored 10 points in the half quarter and also sent 3 steals.
The Pistons made 9 of 14 shots from the field, with a shooting percentage of 64%.
The Knicks took only 9 shots, hit 4 goals, and hit 44.4%.
Ewing was 2-for-4 from the field, John Starks was 1-for-3 from the field, and Smith was 1-for-2 from the field.
Zhang Lili said excitedly: "On the outside, both offensive and defensive ends, the Pistons have an absolute advantage. The advantage is so great that it has made it impossible for the Knicks to attack. The team took 14 shots and made 3 of 7 shots in positional battles. 6 out of 7 fast breaks were successful. The ratio of fast breaks was so large that the Knicks' defense had no chance to play."
Sun Zhenping said excitedly: "Director Zhang, I see why the Knicks are far inferior to the Bulls. Aren't they the most defensive team in the league?"
Zhang Lili analyzed: "Their defense is strong as a whole, Ewing, Oakley, John Starks, Rivers, Mason, these people's defense is good, plus the strong defense established in two seasons The defensive system and defensive awareness have produced the strongest defensive quality in the league.
But individually, they are not as good as the Pistons. The Pistons' defense cannot improve this season because their weaknesses are too obvious. Seikali is a defensive black hole, as is the third position, which seriously drags down the Pistons' overall defense.
In fact, the Pistons' defense this season is similar to that of the Bulls, both are strong on the outside and weak on the inside.
But just now the Pistons put a lot of effort into perimeter defense, and they focused on the Knicks' perimeter play. They formed an almost overwhelming advantage locally, severely damaging the Knicks' passing, and ultimately their offense. That's why they were able to The score is ahead. "
In front of the Knicks' bench, Pat Riley's expression was so serious that even assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy was afraid to speak.
"From now on, we will strengthen the pick-and-roll. Oakley and Smith will come out to cover the outside. We will strengthen the transfer of the ball and avoid the defense of Iron Fist and Joe Dumars..."
He replaced the veteran Blackman. In these few minutes, Blackman performed averagely under the defense of Tekken and made two pass errors.
He sent the last point guard Greg Anthony. Anthony is 183 centimeters tall and 80 kilograms. Although he is not much faster than Iron Fist, he is agile enough and has good ball control skills.
Anthony was the 12th pick in the first round of 1991, and Iron Fist was the 17th pick in the first round of 1991. They were drafted in the same year. Now he regrets it very much. You must know that Zhou Quan came to the Knicks for a trial at that time, but he actually took a fancy to it. Anthony ignored Iron Fist, who was performing poorly at the time.
He warned: "Greg, don't go to the center. You advance on the flanks. Use your speed and agility, or your teammates' pick-and-rolls to get rid of the iron fist. Try not to confront him. Be more flexible and hand the ball to the frontcourt." Patrick or John.”
"Yes, coach."
Anthony said nervously and excitedly.
Facing Iron Fist, this is a person who can kill Jordan. He is very nervous, but if he performs well in front of Iron Fist, he will undoubtedly be very excited and looking forward to it.
Pat Riley added: "Also, when calling for a pick-and-roll, call Oakley. Don't call for a pick-and-roll with Smith. Rodman can defend from position one to position five. Do you understand? You have to keep an eye on Seka. Lee goes and fights.”
"yes."
Greg Anthony said nervously.
Pat Riley warned John Starks again: "John, you are on the other wing, keep a distance from Greg so that Joe Dumars and Iron Fist cannot form a pincer attack, do you understand?"
"Understood." John Starks said solemnly.
The timeout ends and the players take the field.
"Hey, Greg."
"Hey, Iron Fist."
As draftees of the same year, Zhou Quan and Greg Anthony knew each other. They met at the official training camp and during tryouts with several teams including the Knicks. They greeted each other after playing.
Greg Anthony actually played well. He started 35 games as a point guard this season and has a good assist ability. He averaged 5.5 assists per game in 24 minutes. However, this achievement is nothing in front of Zhou Quan, so he was very emotional. : "Iron Fist, I didn't expect you to become a superstar in just two years. You are the best rookie in 1991."
"Thank you! You're not bad, let's work together." Zhou Quan smiled.
"Beep!"
The referee blows the whistle and the game begins.
Although he was drafted in the same year, Zhou Quan was not polite and followed Anthony very closely, not giving his opponent a chance to catch the ball.
However, Anthony used the pick-and-roll with Oakley to get rid of Zhou Quan and received the ball. Then he easily bypassed Sekali and headed towards the paint area with the ball.
Rodman quickly moved from the basket to the left midfielder, establishing a second line of defense in time. Anthony wanted to pass the ball to Ewing, but Ewing cut inside to the basket and was bypassed by Polynice. He could not pass the ball. In the past, I had to force a pull-up jump shot.
"boom!"
Missing, Rodman turned around and grabbed the rebound from the backcourt.
At this time, Zhou Quan had turned around and was about to get off. How could Oakley catch up with him?
"Whoosh!"
Rodman passed the ball, and Zhou Quan caught the ball across the center line and quickly headed toward the Knicks' basket.
"It's a fast break again. This is the Pistons' 8th fast break in the first quarter. 7 of the 8 fast breaks were successful." Zhang Lili shouted excitedly.
"boom!"
He only spoke half of his words, and Zhou Quan completed another dunk.
"Oh ho!"
The cheers in Madison Square Garden grew louder, and more and more Knicks fans rebelled.
Pat Riley yelled at the court: "Greg Anthony, pass the ball, do you hear me? I asked you to pass the ball, not to attack. Do you think you are Iron Fist or Michael Jordan?"
Greg Anthony was shaking with fear and kept nodding.
In the TNT commentary box, Robert Guida shook his head and said: "Compared with the Knicks, the Bulls are too weak on the outside. Iron Fist and Joe Dumars cannot defend and counterattack like this when facing Jordan and Pippen. Looking at it now Come on, the Knicks probably won't be able to solve the perimeter problem."
Ringo Wilson asked with some worry: "Robert, do you think there will be a one-sided situation?"
"possible."
Robert Guida nodded heavily.
The two of them are not biased towards the Knicks, but because of the problem of ratings. One-sided games will reduce the enjoyment and expectation, leading to a sharp drop in ratings.
Robert Guida opened his mouth, but closed it again.
It is clear to onlookers that he actually has a way to solve the current predicament of the Knicks. The method is very simple, that is, the outside line opposite the Iron Fist only plays without the ball, without holding the ball, and then all three outside lines are opened up, so that the Pistons will not be flanked on the outside. Chance.
Although Joe Dumars' defense is also very good, his defensive initiative and aggressiveness are far inferior to Iron Fist.
A minute later, Pat Riley called timeout again.
(End of chapter)
