Phil Jackson said with some regret: "It's a pity that the Sonics don't let Schrempf and Hawkins attack with the ball. When they are like iron fists, they will not pass the ball to teammates with defenders in front of them. They will only pass the ball to the open space, otherwise they will be forced to It’s better when the ball comes out.”
Jordan and Pippen both shook their heads. Of course that would be good. No matter which one of Schrempf and Hawkins attacks with the ball, both of them can defend it, but that situation will not happen. The SuperSonics only have one Attacking people with the ball is an iron fist.
At this time, all the straps on Jordan's feet were removed. He put on his slippers, got up, opened the cabinet, took deodorant and a special iron brush and went to take a shower.
…
On the 3rd, Zhou Quan got up at 9:30 in the morning and slept for a full nine hours.
My sleep situation was okay. Although I was a little tired mentally, I still had two days and one night to recover and adjust.
The weather in Seattle during this period was pretty good. The average temperature during the day was 22 degrees, and the highest temperature was 26 degrees at noon. Zeng Li went to the coffee shop, and Zhou Jun also went to help. He would not come back until noon. After breakfast, he went to the dock alone. .
The villa is on the one-way road around the lake, more than 20 meters away from the roadside. Behind the villa is the pier. A large platform on the second floor has been built into an outdoor swimming pool, which is built on the lake. Next to it is the pier.
There were only a few windows in the glass house on the pier, so there was no wind inside. The temperature inside was a few degrees higher, reaching 30 degrees at noon. He wore beach shorts to bask in the sun to replenish his energy. He basked in the front and back. , full of vitality.
I was in a daze, and when it was almost twelve o'clock, Rodman, Stallone, Arnold, Roberts, O'Neal, Reggie Miller, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and others came over to play.
Stallone also brought his new girlfriend, Jennifer Flavin, who just gave birth to a daughter for him this year, and Sofia, who is only four months old.
He arranged everyone at the dock to bask in the sun with him.
Stallone took off his coat to bask in the sun, wearing a tight vest underneath, revealing a large tattoo on his back. When everyone saw it, it turned out to be a woman's head, with a pair of eyes exposed, but the lower part was invisible.
"Rocky, you don't have the goddess of luck tattooed on your body, do you?" Zhou Quan teased.
Stallone laughed, put his arm around Flavin's waist, and said with a smile: "It's Jennifer. I'm also planning to get a tattoo on my right shoulder. This is a symbol of our love."
Flavin, who was holding Sofia, smiled sweetly. It was obvious that the relationship between the two was indeed good.
"When you get married, you must inform me." Zhou Quan smiled.
"We have plans, just next year. But Iron Fist, you have to inform me of your wedding date first, and then I will inform you." Smith said with a smile.
"Of course."
Zhou Quan nodded and said: "After the finals, I will go back to China to get married, and then come back to prepare for the title defense. When I come back, I will treat you to dinner in Los Angeles."
"Aren't you going to hold a wedding in the United States?" Roberts was a little surprised.
"Then we have to go to China to attend your wedding. We can't not attend your wedding, right? There are so many of us, and I'm afraid there will be a time problem. I think you will hold another wedding in the United States?" Arnold said.
"That's right, Iron Fist, you can't not invite us to your wedding, right?" Rodman and others shouted.
Zhou Quan thought for a while and said, "Okay then, I will hold a simpler wedding in the United States, and you will be invited to attend."
"That's best." Everyone said.
"Iron Fist, I heard that your investment is doing well? Well, this coffee is indeed good." Stallone said while drinking coffee.
"We hired many baristas to prepare it, and the raw materials are also selected Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans." Zhou Quan introduced.
Roberts also thought the coffee was good and said with a smile: "Tie Fist, Zeng, I want to join her store and open a coffee shop in Los Angeles. The business should be good."
Zhou Quan smiled and said to Roberts: "She is in the coffee shop. She will be back later. You can talk to her about opening a branch. I think her coffee shop has accumulated some experience and it is time to start expanding."
After that, he said to Stallone: "Rocky, I do have some investments, most of them are good. Do you want to try them?"
"certainly."
Stallone smiled, and Arnold and others also looked interested.
Bill Walton said with some frustration: "Last year, Iron Fist recommended us to buy Microsoft shares, but unfortunately we didn't follow suit and suffered a big loss. Now the stock price has reached a new high."
"Me too." Reggie Miller and others said.
"I followed, and I have already made millions of dollars. Now I don't have to go bankrupt." Rodman said proudly.
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "I invested in a website selling books last year. I remember telling you that it has developed well this year. The founder of the company is very capable and visionary. I will have the opportunity to introduce you to the game."
"Count me in."
Roberts said decisively.
"Count me in too."
Stallone and others said one after another.
Zeng Li came back at this time, and it was noon. After seeing Roberts, she had a strong sense of being a hostess and quickly started to arrange lunch.
After lunch, everyone was clamoring to go out to sea. Of course, Zhou Quan had no objection and asked the butler Merlin Wellington to make preparations first and replenish supplies for the yacht. He took the opportunity to practice the sleeping elixir technique at the dock for half an hour.
Following the canal and entering the Pacific Ocean, Zhou Quan taught others how to drive the yacht while taking time to talk to Zeng Li: "After the finals, Ahri, let's take the boat to Los Angeles for fun?"
"Running around the coastline, the round trip may be tens of thousands of kilometers, and it will take many days to drive."
Zeng Li felt bad. Firstly, it was too far. It would take at least ten days to drive there and back. Secondly, this thing consumed too much fuel. It consumed hundreds of liters of fuel per hour, and the fuel cost was estimated to be more than 100,000 US dollars.
"That's true, forget it."
He had to rush back to his country to get married and really didn't have time, so Zhou Quan immediately followed his advice.
…
On the 4th, the G2 game day of the finals.
This morning, the league announced a major event. After the finals, officials will select the fifty greatest superstars in the 50 years since the NBA was founded.
Zhou Quan doesn't care much about this, because with his current achievements, he is enough to be selected into the top 50 superstar lineup.
"Iron Fist, how did you sleep last night?"
"King of Iron Fist, did you have any dreams last night?"
"Keep it secret."
"That's good?"
"No comment."
"Iron Fist, you look so energetic, you must have slept well."
"It's better to keep it a secret."
As soon as Zhou Quan arrived at the Central Gymnasium, a group of reporters ran up to him when they saw him, but all they asked were questions about his sleep last night. He felt that this type of question would become a regular question that reporters would ask him in the future.
"Zhou Quan, did you sleep well last night?"
"Zhou Quan, did you sleep well these two nights?"
"Zhou Quan..."
Foreign reporters asked, and a group of domestic reporters gathered around and asked the same questions. He could only deal with them in the same way, without disclosing any information.
"Iron Fist, how did you sleep?"
Zhou Quan came to the locker room and head coach George Karl asked immediately.
Zhou Quan glanced at the others. They were obviously very concerned about this issue and were all looking at him. There was no need to keep it secret here. He smiled and said, "I slept well."
Seeing the confused looks in everyone's eyes, I immediately thought that they might not be able to understand his words based on their understanding, so I quickly added: "Not bad."
"Oh ho!"
Schrempf and others cheered suddenly, and the atmosphere in the locker room suddenly improved.
At this time, outside the visiting team's locker room, two media reporters from Chicago and one from Miami were talking to Phil Jackson.
"Sorry, Mr. Jackson, we didn't get any information. The Iron Fist King still kept his sleep status secret and didn't tell us anything."
"I even found a few Chinese reporters to get the news, but the Iron Fist King didn't even tell them. He was too careful!"
Phil Jackson was very disappointed. He specifically found these familiar reporters to find out the news. He didn't expect Iron Fist to be so cautious.
In this way, it is impossible to decide on double-teaming tactics in advance. We can only fight first and see how the Iron Fist is doing.
At eight o'clock, both sides announced the starting lineup.
Bulls: Kevin Willis, Luke Longley, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Ron Harper
SuperSonics: Matt Geiger, Rodman, Schrempf, Jose Hawkins, Zhou Quan
"Oh, the Bulls have changed their formation. Are they going to use the twin towers tactic? But with the twin towers, the speed of the inside is too slow. The SuperSonics' offensive and defensive transition rhythm is very fast, and the inside can't keep up at all, right?" Larry Bird said a little surprised.
Magic Johnson analyzed: "The Bulls mainly rely on perimeter defense. They are the best in the league in perimeter defense. They don't rely much on the inside for return defense, so the twin towers have no impact."
Larry Bird thought the same thing and said: "With Luke Longley as the starter, the inside attack will be weakened and the ability to open up will be weakened, but it will enhance the strength of the bench lineup. This arrangement is okay."
Magic added: "Luke Longley increases the height and tonnage of the inside, as well as confrontation. He is a meat shield center with average ability. I think coach Phil Jackson's main consideration is to strengthen the bench lineup, right?"
After the two analyzed it, Phil Jackson actually considered it very simply. First, strengthen the bench lineup. The effect of Kukoc entering the bench lineup is immediate;
Second, if Zhou Quan's condition is not good tonight, he will definitely increase his breakthrough points, so he will strengthen the confrontation and height inside.
Kevin Willis is in average condition, mostly shooting jump shots from outside, and can no longer hit the basket. After Luke Longley comes up, he can use his height to attack the basket more.
At this time, Larry Bird suddenly smiled and said: "I'm just curious now, how did Iron Fist sleep these two nights?"
"Ha ha……"
Magic Johnson couldn't help but laugh and was very curious.
"Today the league announced that it will select the top 50 superstars after the season. It is a very important thing for many stars, because once selected, it will represent his historical status in the league." Larry Bird said.
"Yes, I heard there is another awards ceremony, I don't know when it will be held." Magic Johnson said.
Larry Bird suddenly looked worried and said: "I don't care about when the award ceremony will be held now. I am only worried about whether I can be selected into the top 50."
"Ha ha……"
At this he burst out laughing himself, and so did the magician.
In the player tunnel, after the starting lineup of the two teams met, Jordan wanted to ask, Iron Fist, did you sleep well? But he still couldn't ask, feeling that he would lose face, because Iron Fist would definitely not tell him.
Next came the stage. After Zhou Quan came out, he found that his friends were running up to him one by one to ask how he slept, including his boss Ballmer.
This left him helpless. Answering a question a hundred times would definitely affect his mood.
At half past eight, the game starts.
Jump ball, Bulls attack.
Pippen held the ball at the left three-point line and observed the situation.
At this time, Luke Longley entered the basket, used his 120 kilogram tonnage to jam Matt Geiger, and barely stood still under the basket.
Kevin Willis was backing Rodman in the left midfield, also asking for the ball.
Pippen made a fake pass and after shaking Schrempf away, the basketball flew towards the basket.
"boom!"
Luke Longley caught the ball and relied on Matt Geiger to hit a hook, but missed due to interference from Matt Geiger.
But Luke Longley was lucky and grabbed another offensive rebound. At this time, Rodman had turned and entered the basket to grab the rebound. He immediately passed the ball to Kevin Willis in the left midfielder. Willis Si made an open jump shot and hit one.
"The cooperation between the two towers is okay." Magic Johnson smiled.
"The Sonics lost a backcourt rebound in the opening game and George Karl was cursing." Larry Bird laughed.
"Rebound! Rebound! Control the rebound!"
On the sidelines, George Karl was really jumping because he lost the first backcourt rebound. This was not a good sign and he was a little worried.
Sonics offense.
Regardless of the Sonics or the Bulls, all fans are looking at Zhou Quan who is advancing with the ball. There is only one question in their mind, did you sleep well last night?
Unlike the G1 game, Zhou Quan came to the top of the arc.
In the G1 game, the offense was always launched from the left wing and rarely from the top of the arc. This was to avoid being flanked by Jordan at the top of the arc.
But that is only a way to avoid being flanked. Now that he is at the top of the arc and his teammates are widely spread out on both wings, he can also avoid being flanked.
Changing offensive habits may also disrupt the defensive tactics formulated by the opponent in advance, which may have some unexpected effects.
Schrempf was on the left wing, pulled close to the sideline, and the same was true for Jose Hawkins. This made it impossible for Pippen and Jordan to quickly approach the center, and there was no chance for him to be flanked from the outside. If he was forced to flank, there would be a big gap. .
But it is not impossible. Pippen and Jordan can defend on the line and cut off the passing line between Zhou Quan and the two wings. If he forces the pass, he can only drop the ball, so that he can return to defense in time.
But according to the strategy formulated by Phil Jackson, one must first look at Zhou Quan's condition before deciding whether to double-team from the outside. Therefore, Pippen and Jordan did not defend on the line, but defended on the line.
(End of chapter)
