The Sonics reached the finals, and praise from the media immediately poured in. The media no longer pursued Mosaic's tenacity.
"The great Dennis Rodman, with his 22 rebounds in a single game, saved the Sonics." New York Times.
"Schrempf, Rodman, Kendall Gill, McMillan, Iron Fist should be grateful to his teammates. Without their strong performance, he would have been eliminated." Houston Chronicle.
"The SuperSonics have a strong elite lineup, and reaching the Finals is a matter of course." Washington Post.
On the 2nd, Zhou Quan didn't get up until close to 11 o'clock. After lunch, he flipped through today's newspapers and discovered a situation. In these American media reports, all of his SuperSonics teammates seemed to have become superstars. On the contrary, his performance is rarely mentioned by the media alone.
"If I had black or white skin, I would be the second Jordan." He couldn't help but secretly complained in his heart.
That night, the Bulls returned home and defeated the Knicks, eliminating their opponents with a score of four to two and advancing to the Finals.
"Congratulations, Michael, you have reached the finals again after only one year." The reporter said during the on-site interview.
"Thank you!" Jordan said with a smile on his face.
"The finals will be against Iron Fist again. Do you want to say something to him?" the reporter asked.
The smile on Jordan's face couldn't help but disappear. He stared at the camera intently, his eyes were extremely sharp and frighteningly bright, and he said word by word: "Iron Fist, see you in the finals."
"See you in the finals."
Zhou Quan, who was sitting in front of the TV, responded with a smile.
…
The Eastern Conference Finals are over. The 1994 NBA Finals will be played between the SuperSonics and the Bulls. The G1 game will start on June 5. The SuperSonics have the home court advantage, with a best-of-seven system and a two-three-two home and away system.
In the middle of the night, media outlets such as TNT and ESPN announced the latest championship prediction data.
In the past, these mainstream media were more biased towards the Bulls when it came to the relationship between the Bulls and SuperSonics. I am prepared to say that between Zhou Quan and Jordan, they were more biased towards Jordan.
The latest championship prediction data still shows this trend. Between the Chinese and Americans, except for the Seattle media, the rest of the American media has only one choice.
But there are two cities where the media has shown a very neutral state, that is Detroit and Los Angeles.
TNT's data is that the Bulls are 52% and the SuperSonics are 48%.
If TNT's bias is not big, then ESPN's bias is relatively big. The Bulls have a 60% chance of winning, while the SuperSonics only have a 40% chance.
According to the prediction data of NBC TV, ABC TV, these large American TV organizations, the SuperSonics' championship probability is generally ten percentage points lower than the Bulls.
Comparing these media, TNT has the smallest bias, only four percentage points.
After reaching the finals, Zhou Quan received many congratulatory calls in the past two days.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Reggie Miller, O'Neal, Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Mutombo and others all called and asked him to prepare home tickets, and he has notified management.
The finals are about to begin, and many NBA stars have accepted media interviews.
Postman, Larry Johnson, Barkley and others all expressed their support for Jordan.
Magic Johnson said in an interview with the media: "In the 1992 Eastern Conference Finals, Jordan eliminated Iron Fist 4-2 and finally won the championship; in the second round of 1993, Iron Fist eliminated Jordan 4-3 and finally won the championship; in the first two playoffs, When they meet, they win and lose, and no one has an absolute advantage.
This year, they meet in the finals. I think each of them has a chance to win the final. I hope there will be a wonderful finals series. "
"Erwin, who do you support?" the reporter asked.
"They are all friends and I support them," Magic Johnson said with a smile.
"But you supported Michael before." The reporter asked reluctantly.
"No, you've missed the point. Even if I don't support the Pistons, I don't support Iron Fist. I'm the one who wants him to join the Lakers the most." Magic said with a smile.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also accepted an interview and said: "I will go to watch the finals live. You don't have to ask me who I support. I have always supported Iron Fist."
"Karim, I understand your support. After all, you are alumni. But from the perspective of strength, who will you support?" the reporter asked reluctantly.
"I still support Iron Fist. Iron Fist's overall strength is definitely not weaker than Michael Jordan. Otherwise, the Pistons would not have eliminated the Bulls in the second round last year." Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said.
Chamberlain also accepted an interview and said: "I will go to watch the finals live, and I am optimistic about Michael Jordan."
"Wilt, last year you said Iron Fist couldn't stand up at critical moments, but he finally won the championship. What do you think he has any shortcomings this year?" the reporter asked.
Chamberlain said a little angrily: "He has too many flaws, such as his ability to shoot in double teams. He is still a few levels behind Michael Jordan. He even doesn't dare to shoot in double teams.
There is also the finishing ability. He always passes the ball to his teammates at critical moments, letting his teammates solve the problem, and letting his teammates take the responsibility instead of himself. This is a weak behavior of a coward. "
Different from the attitude of the media, the current and retired NBA stars are almost evenly divided between those who support Zhou Quan and those who support Jordan.
Zhou Quan has been staying in a villa by the lake these days, and has also accepted interviews with the media at the gate.
"Iron Fist, Chamberlain thinks you don't dare to take action in a double-team. Do you agree with what he said?" a reporter from the Miami Daily asked.
"Oh, that's because I can always pass the ball to my teammates who are open, so we always win. We don't need to take shots in double teams at all. That's stupid." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
"Chamberlain also said that you always pass the ball at critical moments instead of solving problems yourself. He said that this is a weak act of a coward. Do you agree with this sentence?" the reporter asked again.
Zhou Quan laughed and said: "Bill Russell is great. I think he is the only superstar of that era."
"Iron Fist said that Chamberlain was not a superstar, but Russell was the only superstar of that era." The next day, Zhou Quan's words appeared on the front page of the Miami Daily.
"This damn bastard!"
After seeing this, Chamberlain was so angry that he quickly took a few nitroglycerin tablets.
On the 3rd, the league announced its best lineup.
Zhou Quan was selected for the double first team. This is the second time he was selected for the double first team after last year.
Similarly, Jordan was also selected for the double team, and together with Zhou Quan, he took over the back line of the double team.
"The two stars of the NBA guard line shine, overwhelming the league's four super centers." Los Angeles Daily.
"With Jordan eliminating Ewing in the Eastern Conference Finals and Iron Fist eliminating Olajuwon in the Western Conference Finals, the league has entered the era of guards, and the era of traditional centers is a thing of the past." Seattle Times.
Suddenly, the American media shouted that the era of guards was coming. This made several super centers very angry and depressed. It also made many team managements feel that they should change their previous draft concepts. Super centers are surrounded by these guards. Unable to get ahead, they believe they should pay more attention to building the back line.
This evening, TNT and ESPN TV stations arranged their respective finals programs.
TNT uses Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as hosts and invites several current and retired stars as guests.
Similarly, ESPN TV also used Isiah Thomas and Laimbeer as hosts and invited several stars as guests.
At night, Zhou Quan took a look and it was obvious that the influence and connections of the two Demon Birds far exceeded those of the Assassins, and they invited all the superstars.
Chamberlain, Lakers general manager Jerry West, as well as Olajuwon and Ewing, who had just been eliminated by Zhou Quan and Jordan, and Barkley.
The number of guests invited by the two Assassins was obviously not enough. Joe Dumars, O'Neal, Mourning, Reggie Miller, except for O'Neal, all the others lacked star power and influence.
Although TNT's attitude was a little fair to him, he still decisively chose to watch ESPN programs.
Sure enough, the guests invited by the Magic Birds, except for Jerry West, were all on the opposite side. They had nothing nice to say about him throughout the whole process and only praised Michael Jordan.
ESPN, which is the least supportive of him, is just the opposite. Although several people hired by the Assassin are not as good as Chamberlain and others, except for Mourning, who is neutral, the others are his friends.
"Who do these two magic birds support?"
He was a little confused about the attitudes of Big Bird and Magic. The guests he invited were all his enemies. Could it be that these two guys are fans of Jordan?
On June 4th, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the Chicago Bulls arrived in Seattle.
On this day, a large number of Hollywood stars and celebrities came to Seattle.
At five o'clock, at the request of the media, the Bulls held a press conference in the hotel.
"Coach Jackson, the Bulls and SuperSonics are tied 1-1 in the regular season this season. How sure do you think the Bulls are to win this finals series?" a reporter from the New York Times asked.
Phil Jackson said calmly: "I think ESPN's championship prediction data is 60 to 40."
"Michael, do you agree with Coach Jackson's opinion?" the reporter asked immediately.
A paranoid look flashed across Jordan's face, and he said firmly: "I prefer it to be 100%."
"Do you think you can win Iron Fist?" the reporter said excitedly.
Jordan said: "Without firm confidence, it is impossible to perform the strongest performance. I believe I will win the final victory."
At this time, the Sonics ended their training and held a press conference at their headquarters.
The host took care of it, and Zhang Lili was the first to be turned over.
This makes many East Asian reporters jealous, such as Japanese and Korean reporters, as well as reporters from Wanwan and Xiangcheng. They have never had the opportunity to ask questions at such press conferences and have always been ignored.
Zhang Lili asked happily: "Xiao Zhou, what do you think of the winning prediction data from the American media?"
Zhou Quan said with a smile: "I took a look and found that only the media in Seattle thought we would win. Other media thought the Bulls were stronger. This made us full of fighting spirit, because the weakest defeated the strong and counterattacked to win the championship. A heroic act, and we want to be that hero."
"Crack, click, click..."
At this moment, the lens below flashed crazily.
"Coach Karl, this is your first time playing in the finals. You look very nervous. Are you confident in commanding this series?" said a reporter from the New York Times.
George Karl quickly denied: "No, sir, I'm fine, yes, I'm fine, I'm not nervous. How did you see that I was nervous?"
The reporter immediately asked: "This finals is a competition between the two strongest guards in the league, so how confident are you that you can defeat the Bulls, defeat Michael Jordan, and win the championship?"
A trace of nervousness flashed in George Karl's eyes and he said: "Of course we are confident that Iron Fist will defeat Michael Jordan. We also have many good defenders."
Zhou Quan wanted to scratch his head a little. The head coach looked really nervous, and his opponent was Phil Jackson, a championship coach who had played in two championships and won two championships. He hoped that there would be no surprises in the finals.
Fortunately, Phil Jackson is not a very adaptable head coach. He always lets the players solve problems on the court themselves. Maybe this is an opportunity that can be exploited.
"Iron Fist, do you want to say something about the rematch with Michael Jordan?" a reporter from the Los Angeles Daily asked.
"I am very excited to meet Jordan in the playoffs for the third time. He is the best shooting guard in the world. I hope to beat him again." Zhou Quan said with a smile.
"So do you think you are the best point guard in the world?" the reporter asked.
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "I never evaluate myself, but if I really evaluate myself, then I can be second. Whoever thinks he is better than me can be first as long as he has confidence."
"Haha..." The reporters below all laughed.
That night, ABC was not far behind. Bill Walton invited several stars to put on a show.
NBC is the same, with Elgin Baylor and Big O as hosts, and also invited several stars.
…
June 5, 1994, the day of the G1 finals game.
Although the Seattle Center Arena is dilapidated, it has been carefully decorated and the scene is not bad.
On every seat, there is a finals gift bag, which contains a souvenir. If you are lucky, you can get the collective signatures of Zhou Quan and others, but the chance is one in five hundred. Only thirty people have this luck, and there is another A unified finals jersey.
And the stars are shining tonight, and the people sitting in the front row are either stars or celebrities, or NBA stars.
Many business celebrities in Seattle, such as Supersonics boss Ballmer and several Boeing executives, were also present.
Gong Li sat in the second row to the east, not far from the Sonics bench. In front of her were Arnold and Rambo, as well as Tom Cruise and Big Mouth Roberts.
In the past few years, she has entered a glorious period of her career. This year, she won a lot of honors with Farewell My Concubine, including many awards including the Palme d'Or. At the end of March, she won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. , has a high reputation in Europe and a certain degree of popularity in Hollywood.
After a few months, she came to the United States again, this time for vacation, just in time for the NBA Finals. Because Zhou Quan was well-known in the country, she also knew the NBA, so she came to watch the game.
There was also a Chinese celebrity at the scene, Chen Long, who was opposite Gong Li and was also sitting in the second row without buying a front-row ticket.
He is currently filming Red Zone, which is another movie for him to hit Hollywood. He just shot two days of location shooting in New York and then went to Vancouver.
Vancouver is the third largest production center in North America after Los Angeles and New York. It is also known as the Hollywood of the North. The popular area is mainly filmed there.
Zhou Quan stayed in Xiangcheng for a week last year. Although he had no contact with Zhou Quan, he knew about it, so this time he specially landed in Seattle to watch a finals.
…
This finals series will be broadcast live across the United States by TNT, and the commentators are the Magic Birds.
At eight o'clock, the two teams announced their starting lineups.
Bulls: Cart White, Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, B.J. Armstrong
SuperSonics: Sam Perkins, Rodman, Schrempf, Kendall Gill, Zhou Quan
Larry Bird said: "The Bulls' lineup is the same as last year's starting lineup when they were eliminated by the Pistons in the second round, but the Bulls have acquired Luke Longley from the Timberwolves, a younger center, and I think Cartwright should It’s just a false start.”
Magic Johnson nodded and said: "Whether it is Carter White, Luke Longley, or another backup center Bill Wennington, they all have a height advantage. No matter who is at the fifth position of the Bulls, no matter who is facing Sam Parkin Si, or Michael Cage, both have advantages.
The SuperSonics' interior height is too low and rebounding will suffer, so Rodman's rebounding is very critical.
He has been in good shape in most games this playoffs, but is occasionally affected by injuries. If he has problems, the Sonics will be in trouble. "
Larry Bird nodded and said: "The Bulls only have role players at the fifth position, but whether they are main players or substitutes, they are better than the Sonics.
Grant is also good at the fourth position. He is very capable of cutting inside, is not weak in rebounding and defense, and his overall contribution is not weaker than Rodman.
At the third position, Pippen will have an advantage against Schrempf. On the back line, Jordan faced Iron Fist, and BJ faced Kendall Gill. The strength was even.
Pippen is responsible for the organization of the Bulls, and the triangle offense pays attention to the transfer of the ball and the movement of the players without the ball. The Iron Fist is good at suppressing the opponent's point guard through defense, destroying the opponent's organizational function, thereby suppressing the opponent's offense, but this has nothing to do with the Bulls Too big an effect.
This finals will be a showdown between Jordan and Iron Fist. Whoever is in better condition and performs better will win the final victory. "
Magic Johnson nodded and said: "Michael wins and returns the king. Iron Fist wins and a new superstar will be born in the league."
In the CCTV commentary box, the finals were about to begin. Zhang Lili and Sun Zhenping were excited, nervous, and excited.
Their work is very busy, especially in the playoffs, but they all feel very happy because they can watch the finals between Zhou Quan and Jordan on the spot, which gives them a strong sense of participation, honor, and even honor. Not inferior to the Olympics.
(End of chapter)
