At 9 a.m. on December 2, the SuperSonics held a press conference and announced that they would terminate Patterson's professional contract through a buyout.
At this time, Dan Fagan found Patterson's wife, Shannon, and talked with her for two hours with his eloquent tongue.
"Shannon, Ruben already knows he was wrong. You should know that if he goes to jail, he will lose his job. Without a job, there will be no money..."
"But his contract has been terminated by the SuperSonics."
"That doesn't matter. As long as he doesn't go to jail, he will find a job in another team and you will continue to enjoy your current wealthy life."
"Then you have to promise not to hit me again, and you have to pay me a lot of money. He broke my face, and I want to have cosmetic surgery."
"That's no problem."
At one o'clock at noon, Shannon went to the county police station and dropped the criminal charges against Patterson.
However, Patterson's 15-day jail sentence will not change. It was the sentencing order against him in the rape case.
That night, the Sonics defeated the Nuggets on the road and won their 18th consecutive victory, tying the Sonics' record for the longest winning streak in history.
He rushed back to Seattle late at night and defeated the Warriors in back-to-back games the next day, achieving 19 consecutive victories. After defeating the Pistons at home on the 6th, he achieved 20 consecutive victories.
In this way, the Sonics' 20th consecutive victory is tied for second place in history with the 20th consecutive victory of the Washington Congress and the Bucks, with only the Lakers' 33th consecutive victory remaining.
On the 6th, the Seattle SuperSonics reached a buyout agreement with Dan Forgan. Patterson's rookie contract only lasted for this season, totaling $990,000. The remaining hundreds of thousands of dollars were paid in full by the SuperSonics.
On the 7th, the SuperSonics arrived in Los Angeles.
O'Neal and Kobe invited him to dinner. During the dinner, the two repeatedly shouted about interrupting the Sonics' winning streak.
But unfortunately, the Lakers still lost to the SuperSonics at home.
O'Neal still performed well, scoring 38 points and 13 rebounds on Ben's head, but Kobe only made 4 of 15 shots on Zhou Quan's head, with a shooting percentage of 33.3%.
And Cobra Grant, the power forward specially recruited by Phil Jackson, is old after all, shooting 2 of 10 from the field.
Lewis started again and scored 21 points on 8 of 10 shots from Grant, 3 of 5 three-pointers, and 2 of 3 free throws.
When Zhou Quan did not attack at full strength and only scored 32 points, his performance was the key to the Sonics' victory over the Lakers, and he made many open shots.
As a result, head coach Paul West strengthened his decision and confidence to let Lewis start once he meets the Lakers in the series.
The reason is that Cobra Grant is no longer as brave as he once was, and his offensive ability is not as good as before. Although Lewis's defense is worse, Grant's scoring is no longer threatening, and Lewis's stable scoring can completely exceed his points loss.
As for assisting O'Neal in defense, he believes that Zhou Quan can use Zhou Quan's offense on the outside to make up for it.
Of course, this is just a lineup and tactical idea. Another idea is to play like the last Western Conference Finals, using a few human shields to pile up and prepare for both sides. You can also alternate between the two plans.
After defeating the Lakers at home and away, the Sonics won 21 consecutive victories, and then challenged Mosaic back-to-back in Houston on the 9th. Due to lack of physical fitness, they encountered a huge challenge.
After Zhou Quan scored 30 points in the first three quarters, he only got 6 assists and his teammates missed many open shots.
Among them, Corey Maggette made only 1 of 10 shots in the third quarter, Lewis also made 4 of 12 shots, Bowen made 2 of 6 shots, and Campbell made 1 of 5 shots.
After three quarters, 61:66, the SuperSonics lost by 5 points.
Zhang Lili said: "Mosaic's performance was actually average. Francis was limited by Zhou Quan to only 5 points on 2 of 10 shots, but SuperSonics' performance was even worse.
After 21 consecutive victories, the Sonics are already tired. If they lose this game, I think it will be good. After adjusting, they can start again. "
Xu Jicheng also said: "Except for Zhou Quan, Lewis scored 10 points, and his shooting rate was only 33.3%. They are indeed not in shape."
Zhang Lili added: "But I guess Zhou Quan will not give up."
"Director Zhang, is it because of his competitive spirit?" Xu Jicheng asked.
Zhang Lili smiled and said: "From what I know about him, his competitive spirit is not as strong as Jordan's. He and Jordan are two different people."
"oh?"
Xu Jicheng was very interested in this topic. He and Zhou Quan had known each other for a long time, but they were still not as long as Zhang Lili.
Domestic fans in front of the TV are obviously also very interested in this topic, but they feel that Zhang Lili is wrong. Iron Fist King Zhou Quan must be more competitive than Jordan.
Zhang Lili said: "Jordan is the kind of person who wants to win everything. According to some of his friends, there is a lot of pressure when being with Jordan because he wants to compete with you in everything. Of course, Jordan will only compete with you. If you are more sure of winning than him, if he is not sure, he will not compete with you."
"Haha..." Xu Jicheng laughed.
Zhang Lili said: "But Zhou Quan has never behaved like this. When he is off the court, he will never compete with his friends. Even when he plays golf or tennis table tennis with his friends, it is just for fun. Everyone loses. There is a win.
The reason why I think he will not give up tonight is not because he is competitive, but because I think he has the strength to come back in the final quarter. He must also have this confidence. After all, Mosaic is not strong right now, and his performance tonight is not good. It's not that great, so he won't give up. "
"Yes, Zhou Quan shouldn't be the type to hit the wall." Xu Jicheng said.
At this time, the final quarter began, with a mosaic attack.
"Snapped!"
When Francis tried to break through, Zhou Quan made accurate predictions, moved first, stole the opponent for the fourth time, and then counterattacked.
"boom!"
With a flying dunk, he narrowed the point difference to 3 points.
"Steve, why didn't you call a pick-and-roll?" Tomjanovich asked angrily on the sidelines.
Francis feels that his head coach has been knocked out of his confidence by the Iron Fist King. This can be seen from the match between the Dream Team 4 and the Chinese team. He actually gave up the point guard and the team's organization.
But he still obeyed the coach's instructions and called Mobley's pick-and-roll.
Mobley was selected in the second round in 1998. This season, he has become Mosaic's second rotation starter. In the first ten games, he started seven games and averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal per game. His performance was very good. In particular, the cooperation with Francis is very tacit. The two are already one of the most offensive backcourt combinations in the league.
Zhou Quan did not change defense. He directly squeezed past the 86-kg Mobley and kept up with Francis, who broke through with the ball.
Francis quickly passed the ball to Mobley, who stayed on the right-wing three-point line. After receiving the ball, Mobley quickly dribbled a step laterally and shot behind Francis. Maggette was half a beat slower.
"brush!"
The water splashed and the three-pointer hit.
"Mobley has already scored 21 points, the team's leading scorer, with a shooting percentage of 48.4%. Maggette failed to defend him." Xu Jicheng said.
"Zhou Quan should change his defense and guard against Mobley's touch first." Zhang Lili suggested.
Sonics offense.
"brush!"
Zhou Quan steadily advanced to the top of the arc, faked a real shot, and hit a three-pointer over Francis.
"Okay, Zhou Quan scored five points in a row, and now he has 35 points." Zhang Li said.
Next, Mosaic's backcourt combination once again played a pick-and-roll, and Francis once again passed the ball to Mobley.
"Snapped!"
But this time, Zhou Quan made a timely prediction, stepped in, stole the pass, and took the opportunity to counterattack, scoring 7 points in a row and narrowing the point difference to 1 point.
Mosaic called a timeout.
Tomjanovich said to Francis: “Steve, when facing the Iron Fist King, you have to be more cautious and patient.
I suggest you learn from Avery Johnson. He did a great job. When the Spurs played the SuperSonics, he only made three mistakes against the Iron Fist King.
It's not that he is stronger than you, but that he handles the ball more carefully and patiently, not giving the Iron Fist King a chance to steal him, do you understand?
When facing off against the King of Iron Fist, don't always think about how to beat him. Do you know why Payton and Kidd always suffer big losses under him? It's because they always want to beat him, but Iverson Johnson doesn't think about how to win the Iron Fist King. And I hope you do the same, which will make you calmer and more cautious. "
It's a pity that the unruly Francis never heard such words. Who doesn't want to perform wonderfully on the head of the Iron Fist King?
Zhou Quan found that Francis was very stubborn. He intercepted five goals and made eight turnovers, but he still attacked with the ball in front of him unscrupulously.
Young people like this need to be taught a lesson. Just like domestic universities, college students must undergo military training when they first enter. Young people like Francis also need military training.
Three minutes later, he stole Francis for the sixth time and took the lead.
In the 11th minute of the final quarter, he stole Francis for the seventh time and scored his 51st point, widening the point difference to 6 points.
In the end, the Sonics defeated Mosaic and won their 22nd consecutive victory.
The hard-hitting Francis made 2 of 8 shots in the final quarter, including a three-pointer. He made 4 of 18 shots from the field, 1 of 4 three-pointers, and 1 of 2 free throws. He scored 10 points, 4 assists, 10 turnovers, and 4 fouls, an extraordinary double-double. data.
"Congratulations to Zhou Quan for his 22-game winning streak. He also got his fourth 50+ point this season and his 17th 50+ point in his career." Zhang Lili said happily.
"Zhou Quan has never lost a game with 50 points or more," Xu Jicheng said with a smile.
"Yes. If you score 50+ points and still lose, it's either because of a points brush or your opponent's performance was too good." Zhang Lili said hurriedly.
Xu Jicheng laughed and said: "Jordan scored 63 points in a single game in the playoffs that year, and he lost that game."
"Haha..." Zhang Lili couldn't help laughing.
Xu Jicheng suddenly said: "By the way, Coach Zhang, the highest individual score in a single game in the playoffs is Zhou Quan's 65 points, breaking Jordan's 63 points. What is Jordan's single-game scoring record in the regular season?"
"The 69 points were created in an away game against the Cavaliers in 1990. I remember it was 69 points and 18 rebounds. I watched that game on TV and I was very impressed. By the way, Zhou Quan was still in college at that time. In the second year, he Participated in the draft." Zhang Li said with a smile.
"Jordan is really fierce, but it's a pity that he met Zhou Quan." Xu Jicheng said.
"This is how to be bright when you are born with beauty." Zhang Li said with a smile.
…
On the 12th and 13th, the SuperSonics completed another back-to-back home and away game, defeating the Magic and Grizzlies successively and winning 24 consecutive games.
In these two games, the teammates' condition was slightly better than when they played Mosaic.
On the 15th, the SuperSonics faced the challenge of the Heat at home.
This is the first game between the two teams after the finals, and it attracts a lot of attention.
In this game, Gary Payton also learned Avery Johnson's playing style. When facing Zhou Quan, he handled the ball with caution, calmness and patience.
He reduced his offense, increased the speed of the ball, and moved farther away from Zhou Quan, trying to avoid exposing the ball to Zhou Quan's vision.
This really made his performance better, with only three turnovers in the game and two interceptions by Zhou Quan.
Prior to this, in all games with Zhou Quan, only in the NBA, he averaged 3.9 steals per game by Zhou Quan, which was a huge improvement for him.
However, there was no suspense in the game. Zhou Quan scored 38 points, 22 assists, 5 assists and 3 blocks, breaking his regular season assist record. This was also his second time with 20+ assists in a single game, and he won his 25th consecutive victory.
After the game, Zhou Quan accepted an on-site interview.
"King of Iron Fist, your scoring average has increased to 34 points per game. Are you pursuing the scoring title and more winning streaks?" the reporter asked.
"Yes, I need to challenge more until I am defeated. I know everyone wants to challenge me and beat me now, so I need to let them know, I'm sorry, but you have to work harder." Zhou Quan smiled.
"Are you confident in challenging the Lakers' 33-game winning streak?" the reporter asked.
"We will play one game at a time. It is very difficult. My teammates are very tired. Whether we can break the record is hard to say at the moment." Zhou Quan said.
"How would you evaluate Payton's performance today?" the reporter asked.
"12 points and 6 assists, not many mistakes, the shooting rate should be 40%, which is not bad." Zhou Quan praised.
"How would you rate General Johnson's style of play when he faced you?" the reporter asked.
Zhou Quan thought for a while and said: "This style of play is to try to use pick-and-roll screens to get rid of me, or try to distance yourself from me, get the ball out as quickly as possible, handle the ball as quickly as possible, try not to attack with the ball in front of me, try to to reduce errors.
In fact, I think this style of play has advantages and disadvantages. It is difficult to organize an offense because my speed is not slow. I will catch up with him very quickly. He does not have much chance to handle the ball. Playing like that, the quality of handling the ball is not good. not tall.
Moreover, this style of play is too conservative, not positive at all, and has no effect. At most, it only reduces a few personal mistakes, which does not help the game or the team.
My opinion is that under my defense, the ball handler needs to have more confidence, because I can't steal your ball every time, that's absolutely impossible.
So don't be afraid of my steals. You see, I don't even have four steals per game now. My steals ability has deteriorated. "
"Ha ha……"
Seeing Zhou Quan's serious answer, the reporters around him laughed.
…
(End of chapter)
