But Pippen immediately began to refute Phil Jackson's words, saying: "Iron Fist has top-notch sudden shooting and passing ability, how to judge his intention?
We can't accurately judge his intentions. We have no way to decide where to double-team him. The opportunity to double-team may only be half a second. Once missed, he will either make a complete move or break through successfully.
What's more, this is not a single defense, but a double team. It requires several people to make accurate judgments at the same time, which is impossible to do.
Coach Phil Jackson, you can't expect to be completely idealistic, no team can do what you expect us to do. "
As Pippen spoke, the conference room gradually became quiet, and eventually fell silent. Then everyone looked at Phil Jackson to see what he would say.
Jordan is a top defender, and he recognized Pippen's words. The situation Pippen mentioned is a normal situation in the game. Several people tried to double-team the iron fist of the top sudden shot and pass, but there was really no way to do it in such a short time. make accurate judgments at the same time.
Ron Harper, also a top-notch defender, agreed with Pippen's words. Moreover, he is the one who defends Tekken. If the double-team fails, he is the first person responsible because he has no way to create opportunities for his teammates to double-team, delaying time when Tekken takes action or breaks through.
Phil Jackson's face was a little heavy. He knew the reason for Pippen's attack on him: his contract and his tactical position in the game, but Jordan's distrust of him was his biggest trouble.
After thinking about it, he said: "What Scotty said does exist. I think Iron Fist should be the only point guard in the world and in the history of the league who has reached the top level in breakthrough, shooting, and passing, so I want to guard against him. , it is very difficult to even double-team him.
As Scotty said, the difficulty in double-teaming him is that we simply cannot have several people accurately judge whether his next move is a breakthrough at the same time? Or shooting, or passing? "
"Then how are you going to fight?" Jordan asked with a very serious look.
Phil Jackson said: "As I said just now, we will use the tactics of the G2 game as the basis, but make some adjustments in time.
In this game, Michael will defend Iron Fist. "
"What?"
Everyone was shocked.
"I?"
So does Jordan.
Ron Harper was startled and thought to himself, am I a substitute?
Phil Jackson nodded and said to Jordan: "Michael, your defensive task is to create double-team opportunities for your teammates, not to defend against iron fists. I believe you can do this with your defensive ability."
When everyone heard this sentence, their eyes lit up.
Jordan feels the same way. His defense is of course better than Ron Harper's, and he has the tonnage and strength. Harper can't fight against him and can't hold off Iron Fist, but he can.
Phil Jackson said at this time: "In addition, Scotty and Ron must also pay attention. When you defend on the line tonight, the first is to cut off the passing and receiving angles between Iron Fist and the two wings. The second is to speed up the double-teaming. Don't let Iron Fist has time to hit the ball.”
Pippen and Harper couldn't help but nod. If they defended on the line, their position would be closer to the Iron Fist. Of course, the speed of helping to defend double teams would be faster, almost only one or two steps away.
Seeing the reaction of everyone and Jordan, Phil Jackson breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he can win tonight, he can regain Jordan's trust.
As for Pippen, Jordan can hold him down.
As for Kevin Willis, he was disappointed in the regular season and even more disappointed in the finals. He couldn't win over Matt Geiger, a tough second-rate center. He has decided to make a trade in the offseason.
He added: "As for the defense inside, their inside line has no offensive ability with the ball and no tactical position. The offense is dominated by the outside line, and the inside line is mainly secondary offense or open attack.
Therefore, relatively speaking, our defensive pressure on the inside is not great. We mainly focus on defending breakthroughs and inside tactics on the outside. If we can't prevent it, we can use foul tactics. "
…
While the Bulls were having a tactical meeting and the Sonics were catching up on sleep, the management held a special press conference and invited hundreds of media.
At the press conference, general manager Whitsitt said very seriously: "If some extreme Bulls fans continue to do this, then I want to remind you that the home court advantage in this series is in our hands."
Then he continued: "I would also like to tell the Risk Hotel, which is the hotel where we are now, that we have just called the police and the police will investigate last night's incident. I hope this will not damage the reputation of the hotel."
"What?"
The hotel general manager, Colin Wynn, who was watching the excitement at the scene, panicked. This wouldn't make him fired by his boss, would it?
Next, Whithit exposed several photos taken last night, some of which were photos of the East Asian girls who specifically attacked Zhou Quan's room.
After the press conference, some news quickly began to spread.
Among them, Whitsitt's statement to the Bulls' extreme fans was interpreted by the media as an open threat to those people. The underlying meaning was to tell those people that if they continue to mess around, the Bulls may also encounter problems when they return to Seattle. The same situation.
In addition to the actions of the Sonics management, some Chicago media broke the news that Sonics players collectively called for a lot of door-to-door services at the hotel last night, including Iron Fist. These media believed that the press conference of the Sonics management was just a cover-up. It's just their behavior.
Anyway, everyone said their own thing, and there were divergent opinions for a while.
At noon, the pictures released by the Supersonics were confirmed. Those East Asian girls were Japanese and Korean female students at the University of Chicago, and they often participated in compensated dating activities.
Some media went to interview those girls. How could they dare to admit that they had received money? They didn't dare to admit that they were escort girls, so they denied it flatly. They only said that they were fans of Tekken and came here specially to devote themselves. There was no monetary transaction.
The words of these girls at least proved that Zhou Quan did not call for escort, and the media in Chicago were talking nonsense.
At this time, the Japanese and Korean consulates in Chicago became excited and responded quickly. They held a press conference to publicly protest, saying that the Chicago media was slandering Japanese and Korean female students, and demanded a public apology from those media.
"This is dog-eat-dog!"
Zhou Quan couldn't help but joked after seeing the news about the Japanese and Korean consulates and the media in Chicago.
…
"Bulls fans are more competitive than the Bulls."
At noon, the Sonics went to the United Center for training. When interviewed by some media, Zhou Quan said this.
Originally, the team was assigned to the University of Chicago, but the decision was temporarily changed after the media broke the news that the East Asian girls specializing in the Tekken room last night were Japanese and Korean female students from the University of Chicago.
Entering the arena, the staff at the venue were not enthusiastic. Even Zhou Quan, the world boxing champion who could get cheers here in the regular season, received a cold reception. It can be seen that for the finals, the Chicago people have only one idea, and that is to kill Super Sonic, take out Iron Fist.
After an hour of activities and an hour of training, George Karl took the players back to the locker room and held a tactical meeting.
…
That night, the G3 game began at the United Center in Chicago.
SuperSonics: Matt Geiger, Rodman, Schrempf, Jose Hawkins, Zhou Quan
Bulls: Kevin Willis, Luke Longley, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Ron Harper
"Oh, Ron Harper starts? The Bulls played a little trick." Larry Bird couldn't help but be startled when he saw the list.
"Maybe it can interfere with the Sonics' preparations." Magic Johnson smiled.
In the CCTV commentary box, Zhang Lili and Xu Jicheng were also a little surprised when they saw it.
"It's now the time. We can only cope with the ever-changing situation by remaining unchanged." Zhang Lili said.
At this time, the substitute players from both sides began to warm up, and the starters were in the locker room preparing to play.
"Guys, Ron Harper's not hurt, Phil Jackson is doing tricks." George Karl said when he saw the Bulls' starting lineup.
Zhou Quan and others were startled, and George Karl said: "I originally thought Jordan was defending against Iron Fist, but now Ron Harper should be defending against Iron Fist.
Then our tactics are still those of the G1G2 battle, with Iron Fist leading the offense, and on the defensive end, Iron Fist will guard Jordan alone. If Jordan breaks through, others will quickly flank and change positions. "
At 7:40, the away team comes out.
boom!
Huge boos rose to the sky, and the United Center began to show the powerful momentum of one of the most terrifying home stadiums in the 1990s.
When the home team came out, the cheers were earth-shattering. When Jordan came out, the whole place was filled with shouts of "MJ".
At eight o'clock, the game starts.
Jump ball, Bulls attack.
On the offensive end, Phil Jackson still emphasized that Jordan played without the ball, used the cover of his teammates to get rid of the iron fist with strong marking ability, and then caught the ball and shot.
Pippen attacked with the ball on the left wing, attracting the defense.
Jordan mainly runs on the right wing, with Kevin Willis in the low post and Ron Harper at the top of the arc. The three of them form a triangle.
At the same time, Jordan also formed a triangle with Kevin Willis and Pippen, and a triangle with Ron Harper and Pippen.
Pippen formed another triangle with Ron Harper and Luke Longley in the low post.
Even there is a triangle between Pippen, Luke Longley, and Jordan, and the ball can be passed.
Basketball can be passed quickly in any triangle. At the same time, the position of each triangle is not fixed. Everyone is moving according to tactics, using their movements to continuously pull the SuperSonics' defensive formation.
"Whoosh!"
Pippen's offense was unfavorable. He failed to break away from Schrempf with the ball and immediately passed the ball to Ron Harper at the top of the key.
When Jordan and Kevin Willis met, they immediately started a pick-and-roll. Then Jordan cut outside to the right elbow area to get the ball, and Kevin Willis cut inside to the basket.
Rodman quickly changed defense, but was one step behind Jordan. Zhou Quan saw Rodman changing defense, and he immediately followed Willis into the paint.
At the top of the arc, after Ron Harper received the ball, Jose Hawkins immediately adjusted his defensive position, focusing on guarding the opponent's right hand and cutting off the passing and receiving angle with the right wing. This was to prevent Harper from passing the ball to Jordan.
But Ron Harper is not an ordinary person. Although he has not even been an All-Star substitute, he has reached the peak of his career. He has played 20+ in 5 seasons in his career, including averaging 20+ in three consecutive seasons. Although After a serious injury, most of his strength has been lost, but his experience and passing skills are still there.
He immediately dribbled to the right, then suddenly turned around and got rid of Hawkins. At this time, Jordan just moved to the right elbow area, and he immediately passed the ball.
Jordan caught the ball and immediately jumped sideways and shot. The rhythm was so fast that Rodman, who was one step behind, didn't even have a chance to jump to block the shot.
"brush!"
The basketball went hollow into the basket and the two-pointer hit.
"The first shot hit, and it was clean. It seems that Michael's touch will not be bad tonight." Magic Johnson said.
"Eh, no, Michael Jordan kept up with the Iron Fist. Isn't Ron Harper defending the Iron Fist tonight?" Larry Bird said in surprise at this time.
"It really is?"
Magic Johnson also saw it and immediately analyzed: "It should be that Ron Harper is not effective in defending Iron Fist. His confrontation is far inferior to Iron Fist and not as good as Michael."
"Jordan can't guard against Iron Fist, but he can definitely strengthen the first line of defense. This is to prepare for double-teaming." Larry Bird said with certainty.
In the CCTV commentary box, Zhang Lili was also surprised and said: "Phil Jackson changed the defensive tactics. Pippen was on the left and Harper was on the right, forcing Zhou Quan to the center. This was intended to let Jordan hold him down, and then Pippen and Is Harper taking advantage of the double-teaming tactic to encircle the center from both wings?"
Xu Jicheng said at this time: "Zhou Quan crossed the center line, oh, he made a gesture... Schrempf went to the center, he went to the left wing."
Zhang Lili immediately said happily: "Yes, this breaks the Bulls' tactic of forcing him to the top of the arc. At least Ron Harper can't double-team him."
On the sidelines, Phil Jackson frowned when he saw Zhou Quan's behavior.
He had to admire Zhou Quan's tactical ability and switched to the wing so that the Bulls would not be able to form a three-team attack on him on the outside.
If Zhou Quan attacks in the middle, with Jordan + Pippen + Ron Harper, he believes that Zhou Quan can definitely be locked up.
At this time, Schrempf reached the top of the arc. Pippen defended on the line and let him go two meters away. He was very close to the iron fist on the left wing, only two meters away. He could double-team him at any time, and cut him off from the opponent. Iron Fist's passing and receiving angles.
He also has strong tactical ability and a high golf IQ. He immediately ran down to restrain Pippen's defense and prevent him from having the opportunity to double-team Iron Fist.
But at this time, just when Pippen was approaching Zhou Quan, Jordan decisively pressed.
Then Pippen responded very decisively to Jordan's action and began a fierce flanking attack. With just one step, his hand reached Zhou Quan.
At the same time, Luke Longley took a step from the basket and blocked Schrempf who entered the penalty area.
On the left wing, Zhou Quan was very calm in the face of Jordan's sudden pressing.
From the moment Jordan caught up with him in the backcourt, he began to analyze the Bulls' intentions. Now Jordan was pressing him, and then Pippen also started to attack him. He immediately understood that the Bulls were determined to cover the perimeter. Clamp him.
(End of chapter)
