In the player tunnel, Ewing felt a little complicated when he saw Zhou Quan leading his team.
If the Knicks won the last Eastern Conference Finals, and with their strength, they could also defeat Barkley's Suns, then he would be the one to win the championship and FMVP.
When he thought of this, he couldn't help but sigh deeply.
But thinking about the situation this season, although the team's record was very good, the Bulls seemed to be better and Michael was still so strong, he couldn't help but sigh again.
"King Kong, why are you sighing all the time?"
Zhou Quan said a little dissatisfied: "What, you are not happy to see me?"
"What's so exciting about seeing you?" John Starks said coldly.
"Hey, you, an amateur, are still in the NBA?" Zhou Quan said with a shocked look on his face.
"Who's amateur?" John Starks was furious.
"Ha ha……"
Rodman burst out laughing and shouted, "It turns out we're going to play an amateur team tonight, and we can't lose."
Zhou Quan reached out and tapped Oakley, and said with a smile: "There is also an amateur boxer here, Dennis. You are right, this is really an amateur team."
The veins on Oakley's forehead jumped again and again, and he stared at Zhou Quan and said: "Iron Fist, stop joking around."
Zhou Quan nodded and said with a smile: "If you know it's a joke, don't show it to anyone with a sullen face. It's great to play ball happily. If you look at each of you, those who don't know would think you are going to the execution ground."
"Pfft!"
Rodman and Kendall Gill burst out laughing.
They couldn't beat him, and they couldn't talk it out. Oakley and the others snorted and stopped talking.
"Hey, Greg."
"Hey, Iron Fist."
Zhou Quan said hello to Anthony, who was drafted in the same year.
Anthony is 5 years older than Zhou Quan and is 26 years old this year. His original ambition was to enter politics rather than engage in professional sports. He is very smart and hopes to have good dealings with Zhou Quan, an influential and well-known person. His attitude Very nice and smiling.
After Rivers was injured, he was given the important role of Pat Riley and became the starting point guard because of his tough defensive style.
"Hey, Coach Riley."
After coming out, Zhou Quan greeted his teammates and then said hello to Pat Riley who was standing on the sidelines.
"Hey Zhou."
Pat Riley, smiling and with his hands in his pockets, responded gracefully.
Although he looked smiling on his face, he was bitter in his heart, because last year in the offseason before he traded Mark Jackson for Smith and Rivers, he thought about trading weekly rights, but in the end he chose Smith.
If Zhou Quan is traded at that time, although there is little hope, it is not impossible, otherwise the Pistons will not trade Zhou Quan this time.
The inside and outside combination of Ewing + Zhou Quan, plus Oakley + John Starks, on both offense and defense, he is confident of sweeping the entire league, including the Bulls.
At eight o'clock, the game officially begins.
Jump ball, Knicks offense.
Greg Anthony faces Zhou Quan and the pressure is huge.
In the face of pressure, there are two reactions. One is to perform stronger due to excitement, and the other is to make frequent mistakes due to nervousness, which depends on the psychological quality and personal strength.
Anthony also wanted to perform better, but unfortunately neither his mental quality nor his personal strength allowed him to do so.
In the first four minutes, he was intercepted once by Zhou Quan and forced to make a passing error. Under Zhou Quan's strong defense, he was unable to perform the functions of a point guard well.
The Sonics used defensive counterattacks and good outside jumpers to lead by 6 points at 4:10.
Pat Riley called a timeout and brought on backup guard Derek Harper, asking him and John Starks to run more pick-and-rolls to get rid of Zhou Quan's defense.
Harper was selected to the defensive second team twice, but at 32 years old, his offensive and defensive quality is declining, and he cannot deal with Zhou Quan.
After he played two rounds, even if he switched positions with John Starks and faced Kendall Gill, his performance was average. The Knicks' offensive and defensive quality still did not improve. Pat Riley had no choice but to let the perimeter Pass the ball directly to the low post and let the low post dominate the offense and ball possession.
But super center Ewing can do everything, attack and defend, but he has no organizational skills. If you give him the ball, there is usually only one result. He cannot have such strong physical fitness to constantly attack the basket, so he either keeps making wasteful shots. Either have a great touch and kill the opponent with a jump shot.
George Karl arranged for Rodman to guard Ewing and let others step up their attack on Ewing, causing Ewing to make frequent mistakes.
Soon, the first quarter ended at 16:32, and the Sonics almost beat the Knicks.
Zhang Lili sighed: "Look, this is the perimeter advantage. Once the opponent's perimeter is locked and the opponent's organizational function is destroyed, victory will be achieved.
In the last Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons played the Knicks like this. The Knicks had no chance to take advantage of the inside and lost the game.
The Knicks want to win the game unless Ewing scores 40+ or 50+ efficiently, or uses defense to prevent the Sonics from attacking. "
Sun Zhenping smiled and said: "But the SuperSonics' outside jumpers felt good tonight. Zhou Quan, Kendall Gill, and even center Perkins all hit a three-pointer. The offense was all outside and did not hit inside. The Knicks The strongest interior defense didn’t have a chance to play.”
Nodding, Zhang Lili analyzed: "Actually, this also has disadvantages. Once the feel is not good, this style of play will definitely lose.
It is still necessary to combine breakthrough scoring and outside jump shooting. If one end is not good, there is another end. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Of course, this is also because of the good touch. No matter how you shoot today, the SuperSonics play like this, otherwise Zhou Quan will definitely rush in and play. "
Sun Zhenping nodded and said: "The Knicks are the best defensive team this season, and they should adjust their defensive tactics next."
"Definitely, if the Sonics scored 32 points in a single quarter, the Knicks' defense would have been blown away." Zhang Li said with a smile.
Then he added: "As I said last time, the reason why the Knicks' defense is so strong is because of their fierce defensive style. Oakley, John Starks, and Mason on the bench are all very defensive. Big, especially Oakley.
But facing Zhou Quan, given their defensive intensity just now, they didn't dare to defend like that, so the Knicks' defense was greatly compromised. "
In the second quarter, Pat Riley changed the defensive tactics and expanded the interior defensive area. At the same time, Oakley was asked to play the third position on the defensive end to strengthen the defense outside the paint area.
In the first three minutes, this defensive tactic worked very well. The SuperSonics had a good touch tonight. Everyone was shooting from the outside, but the Knicks strengthened their outside defense and Ewing defended the paint area, so the touch dropped.
In the fourth minute of the second quarter, at 24:34, the Knicks recovered 6 points. The SuperSonics called a timeout, replaced the main lineup, and Zhou Quan came on.
On the defensive end, John Starks still defends Zhou Quan.
Zhang Liji smiled and said: "If John Starks could guard Zhou Quan, the Knicks would not have lost the Eastern Conference Finals last time."
At the top of the arc, everyone pulled apart, and Zhou Quan played a singles game.
Fake thrust, pull back, thrust again, John Starks finally fell to the ground.
"Oh ho ho..." The central gymnasium burst into laughter.
Zhou Quan reached the free throw line in two steps, forced Ewing out from under the basket, and suddenly passed the ball. Rodman, who cut in from the right low post, received the ball and layup, easily scoring a goal.
"Just play like this. If the Knicks strengthen their outside defense, then the inside line will be empty, so they will strengthen their breakthroughs." Zhang Lili said happily.
Looking back, John Starks took the ball and singled to Kendall Gill.
This is the Knicks' offensive tactic. They don't attack Zhou Quan, but only contain them. This way they can avoid the Sonics' strongest defender.
"brush!"
The fake shot was a real shot, successfully shaking Gill. After breaking in, he made a sudden jump shot and hit a ball.
SuperSonics attack, Zhou Quan holds the ball at the top of the key.
John Starks directly pressed against Zhou Quan, raising his elbows and even using his face, trying to withstand Zhou Quan.
But Zhou Quan's tonnage is a full ten kilograms, and no matter how he holds it, he won't be able to withstand it.
Facing the right wing and controlling the ball with his right hand, Zhou Quan leaned sideways and made a crushing breakthrough. In the end, John Starks even strained his nose and couldn't hold it.
Seeing Zhou Quan rush to the free throw line, Ewing did not dare to come out. Oakley on the outside left wing could only go over to help defend, leaving Schrempf empty.
Zhou Quan was facing the right wing and did not see Oakley's attack from behind. However, he heard the scraping sound of sneakers approaching from behind and knew that someone was coming. As expected, it would be Oakley. .
The next moment, with the wind blowing behind him and Oakley suddenly appearing from the right side behind him, he immediately put his hands together with the ball and swung it upward.
This time, both John Starks in front and Oakley in the back were shaken.
"Whoosh!"
But the next moment, he passed the ball to Schrempf.
"Beautiful! A fake shot and a real pass." Zhang Lili exclaimed in admiration.
"brush!"
At the three-point line, Schrempf received the ball, and there was no defender within three steps. He took a step forward with the dribble, took aim at the basket, and then calmly took a shot, hitting a long two-pointer.
Sun Zhenping smiled and said: "If you don't want to double-team, then go in and fight with Rodman. If you double-team, then pass the ball to an open teammate."
Pat Riley shook his head slightly. In his opinion, the threat of such a person with the ball, top offensive ability with the ball, top breakthrough ability with the ball, and top organization and passing ability, is completely useless. Weaker than Jordan, who has no solution offensively.
The Knicks defense he built is indeed strong and can defend any team, but when facing Jordan and Zhou Quan, it is often broken down.
Jordan used offense to penetrate the Knicks' defense, while Zhou Quan used offense and passing.
However, he did not intend to admit defeat, and immediately began to adjust his defensive tactics. Instead of double-teaming Zhou Quan, he would instead cut off other people's contact with Zhou Quan and keep an eye on others, which was the Jordan rule for beating Chuck Daly.
There's no way around it, just look at John Starks' defense.
As a result, in the next game, Zhou Quan felt good and blasted John Starks with his strong personal offense.
In the end, 91:108, the game was won relatively easily by the Sonics.
Ewing scored 36 points, but his shooting percentage was only 33.3%, relying entirely on his shots to score.
Zhou Quan scored 42 points, shooting 55.5% from the field, and sent out 10 assists and 3 steals.
Winning this game, with 33 wins and 7 losses, the SuperSonics are first in the Western Conference and first in the league.
At this time, Mosaic was 31 wins and 10 losses, the Suns were 28 wins and 13 losses, and the Spurs were 29 wins and 14 losses, ranking second, third, and fourth in the Western Conference respectively.
In the Eastern Conference, the Bulls have 29 wins and 12 losses, the Pistons have 28 wins and 13 losses, the Hawks have 30 wins and 11 losses, and the Knicks have 30 wins and 11 losses, ranking among the top four in the Eastern Conference.
On February 1st, the league announced the Player of the Month and MVP rankings, and also announced the end of All-Star voting.
David Robinson became January's Player of the Month, and Zhou Quan still ranked first in the MVP rankings.
The schedule is almost halfway through, the Sonics are still ranked first in the league, and Zhou Quan's MVP is also ranked first, but his negative news seems to be less and less, which is strange.
The agent Philip gave him an explanation. Because the negative news about him in the media was nothing new, it was always speculation, so people's interest was no longer great. As long as the sales volume decreased and the profits were reduced, of course the media would not Will do these things again.
In terms of All-Star voting, Jordan still leads the vote with 940,000 votes, followed by Zhou Quan with 910,000 votes, 140,000 more than last year, which had 770,000 votes.
Jordan had 1.03 million votes last year, and this time there were 90,000 fewer votes. His popularity was lost a lot to Zhou Quan, but he is still stable.
Also because of Jordan's pressure, Zhou Quan's popularity seems to be a little slow.
In addition, Barkley took leave due to injury, and the league designated Karl Malone to replace Barkley in the starting position.
Western Conference All-Star starters: Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Richmond, Zhou Quan
Western Conference All-Star reserves: David Robinson, Clifford Robinson, John Stockton, Drexler, Sprewell, Danny Manning, Kevin Johnson.
Eastern All-Star starters: O'Neal, Shawn Kemp, Pippen, Kenny Anderson, Jordan.
East all-star reserves: Ewing, Gary Payton, Derrick Coleman, Wilkins, John Starks, Oakley, Mookie Blaylock.
Kendall Gill received 340,000 votes, the second-highest vote-getter on the Sonics, but did not qualify for the All-Star Game.
Entering February, on the 3rd, the SuperSonics arrived in Detroit.
When coming out of the airport, Zhou Quan was surrounded by a lot of media, as well as some Detroit fans.
"I'm very happy to be back here. My career started here and reached its peak here. I won my first championship and FMVP here. This place is very important to me."
"I am very grateful to the fans here. Their support for me is an important factor in my success. My sneaker sales here still rank third among all cities, second only to Seattle and Los Angeles. I am very grateful to them."
The next night, in front of 22,000 fans, Zhou Quan reappeared at the Palace of Auburn Hills and received loud cheers as he walked out of the tunnel.
Philip did a good job last year and did not make him a traitor to this team. Although it is true that the team wants to trade him and the league wants him to leave, sometimes if the job is not done properly, it is the players who take the blame.
Witnessed by the fans, he received his championship ring. Eight or nine months had passed since he won the championship.
The ring was made according to his opinion. It has his Chinese name on it, which is in Han Li style, not Pinyin. It is very beautiful and exquisite.
He was very excited when he got the championship ring, and then led the team to defeat the Pistons.
…
In February, the SuperSonics had 4 wins and 1 loss, and lost to the Nets. They completed all the schedule before the All-Star break, with 37 wins and 8 losses, ranking first in the league.
After Mosaic entered February, they lost first to the Jazz and then the Bucks, with 35 wins and 13 losses. They played three more games than the Sonics, and the gap widened.
This year's All-Star Game will be held in Minneapolis, home of the Timberwolves.
However, no one from this bad team has been selected as an All-Star. It currently has the second-worst record in the Western Conference, only slightly better than the Mavericks, and is in the running for the No. 1 pick.
On the 10th, Zhou Quan took a day off at home, practicing shooting and golf, or doing some boxing training.
There were still several paparazzi guarding him outside, and even the garbage bags thrown out by the workers could not escape their hands, forcing the workers to drive all the way to throw away the trash.
He called the big-mouthed beauty, and after greetings he asked: "Julia, do you have time to play in All-Stars?"
"Well, I can make time tomorrow."
…
(End of chapter)
