the rest, only noise

Chapter 1052 Save Poor Patrick

In the first game of the semifinals between the Knicks and the Magic, Louis came to the garden scene.

As before, he came and came, but he didn't have much interaction with the team.

It is very difficult for the players to greet him, because he is not in the front row, but in the fifth row of the VIP area.

This position just opened the distance from the stadium. As a spectator, it is one of the best positions, but it is not convenient to interact with the players.

Magic is a team that needs to be vigilant.

O'Neal and Webber have the potential to become No. 1 in the league at their respective positions, and this potential will accelerate their growth.

Although the future belongs to them, no one can underestimate them now.

Because O'Neal is already a top five center in the league, and Webber also has All-Star level immediate combat power, plus Tim Hardaway, who is so windy and difficult to defend, the Magic already have the original version of the Big Three.

Only Hardaway is at his peak.

When Phil Jackson met Tomjanovich, he specifically said: "Rudy, I hope you can bring enough challenges."

The team that entered the playoffs for the first time in team history said to the defending champion that they won six consecutive championships that they hope they will bring some challenges?
Tomjanovich originally wanted to take it easy because Jackson was also a Louisian, but after hearing what he said, the corners of his mouth twitched.

"We will," said Tomjanovich in a deep voice.

Jackson deserves to be the coach of the Louis Department.

Facing a strong enemy like the Knicks, he dared to work hard on the starting lineup.

The Magic's starting five tonight are Hardaway, Tracy Murray (SF/SG), Webber, Chu Nan, and O'Neal.

"Coach Jackson put Chris Webber at the [-]? And Chu at the [-] at [-]-foot-[-]?"

Jackson's approach is hard not to remind people of Louie.

Louie is also a coach who likes to move around.

Miraculously, most of the jobs Louie did were effective.

And what Jackson did tonight, it's hard to believe it's going to work.

"Show me the statistics of the Magic team." Tomjanovich said to Zhao Yuanzheng beside him.

Zhao Yuanzheng quickly took out the data sheet he carried with him.

Tomjanovich took a look at the data sheet and knew what Jackson was thinking.

The Knicks have the strongest power forward group in the league, and the center pairing of Ewing and Yu Tiancan also makes other teams despair.

Even if the Magic has O'Neal and Webber, it's not enough to watch, because these two are too young.

Therefore, letting Webb play the [-]rd position and letting Chu Nan play the [-]th position is to accumulate frontcourt height to ensure rebounds.

Doing so has to give up some things, such as defensive flexibility, and the Magic's signature counterattack fast break.

However, the value of Chu Nan is not only to increase the height of the frontcourt.

He has a shoe height of 221 cm, but he is a space-type five who likes to shoot from the outside. This season, his three-point shooting percentage is 38%, which can already be used as a high fort.

That is, he does not take up space.

The Magic's starting second position, Murray, is an underrated shooter.

How underrated?

From the point of view of shooting efficiency, Murray is the league's top shooter.

He shot 46 percent from three.

The existence of Murray and Chu Nan allows Jackson to easily form a triangle offense that is difficult to defend around two of Hardaway, O'Neal, and Webber.

Louie also noticed that the Magic's formation is full of guards who can shoot three-pointers.

Hardaway's backup is Steve Kerr.

Murray's backup is veteran Knicks Gerald Wilkins.

Looking at talent alone, the Knicks have an overwhelming advantage.

But the talents of O'Neal and Webber are also unique, and can be compared with Ewing and Wilson.

Chu Nan hit the first three-pointer for the Magic.

Four minutes later, he hit a second goal from the corner.

Then he was replaced, O'Neal started to kill, the brutal low attack made the Knicks do not know how to defend.

Obviously, the Knicks were stunned. They were too underestimated to consider the challenge that the Magic might pose.

At halftime, the Knicks trailed the Magic by 16 points.

"Coach Tomjanovich needs to think about it. If he were the leader, he would never let the scene become so passive."

The man who said that about Rudy was Walter Fraser.

Louie was thoughtful. Although he didn't want to be Auerbach, New Yorkers already regarded Tomjanovich as Heinsohn.

No matter what he does, he will be compared with his predecessor, and he will never be able to compare.

It's not fair to Rudy.

In the second half, Wilson and Miller gave the Knicks a strong counterattack.

Tomjanovich came to his senses and stopped giving O'Neal a comfortable one-on-one chance.

Moreover, his assistant coach Tom Thibodeau suggested that Rodman should go around to defend O'Neal, and stop Ewing's hard top, which would not have any effect.

Tomjanovich accepted Thibodeau's suggestion, which is also the key to the reversal of the whole situation.

O'Neal has since misfired. Although he can score, every point he gets is within the Knicks' plan.

However, the Magic's outside touch was too hot. Although Miller rained three-pointers and scored a game-high 38 points, the Knicks still lost the game by 5 points.

Magic's rookie Chu Nan became a surprise player in this game.

作为伪首发出场19分钟，6次出手全在外线，命中4球，砍下12分3篮板1助攻。

The New York reporter asked pointedly: "You are seven feet four inches tall, why are you obsessed with shooting from the outside?"

To Americans, Chu Nan's answer sounded like a pure softie: "Shaq and Ewing fought too hard, I don't want to be accidentally hurt."

O'Neill is very satisfied with having a high fort around him that doesn't take up space: "Chu is my little brother. I don't want to hear you criticize his style of play anymore. That's his way of playing. He plays very well and he will always play like this!"

New Yorkers can't remember the last time the Knicks lost Game [-] of a series.

This situation was rare in Louis' era.

Knicks is a master of skirmishes as Louie is a master of improvisation.

Encounter matches depend on the on-the-spot performance and scheduling of the players. When both sides do not know each other well enough, the head coach's strategy, rotation and adjustment will play a decisive role.

Tomjanovich suffered this defeat because of his slow reaction tonight.

Louis who came to the garden would naturally be entangled by reporters.

"Leader, does this defeat mean that Rudy is not ready yet?"

Louie smiled bitterly: "He just led the team to 66 victories and destroyed Philadelphia in the first round, and then you think he is not ready yet?"

"Maybe it's because Philly doesn't present enough challenges."

"Is there a possibility that Orlando is very strong?" Louis said, "Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Webber are members of the Millennium Team⑴. It is not easy to beat them. Give the team some time. They will adjust."

Ewing, who was beaten by O'Neal, took the initiative to take responsibility for the loss.

"It's not that Orlando played well, it's because I played too badly, and this kind of thing won't happen again!"

Well, he belittled the opponent by the way.

It is well known that Ewing has a low EQ, but he did not speak this way just because of his low EQ, but because the loss really annoyed him, and O'Neal's performance suppressed him, which made him lose sleep that night.

Wilson did not accept an interview. Both he and Miller were lying losers. If the inside line is not blown, their performance in the second half is enough to win.

However, as Ewing said, the Knicks will not let such a failure happen again.

Game2
Tomjanovich and the coaching staff carefully studied the core players of the Magic, and then made a bold decision.

Take Stockton out of the starting lineup - Stockton: ? ? ? --Start second-year wing Doug Christie and lead the defense against Hardaway.

Wilson served as point forward, and Rodman replaced Kemp at the starting four.

This is a typical game.

Rodman acted as cannon fodder for O'Neal.

Ewing waited on the side to help defend the block.

Wilson and Christie took advantage of their mobility and swept around.

Hardaway was smothered by the Knicks' impregnable defense.

Webber was the only player the Knicks didn't care about. He also scored 36 points and 14 rebounds in the end, but this performance was like the series in which Stoudemire's data completely exploded Duncan.

124 is better than 102
The Knicks defeated the Magic at home with a 22-point victory. Although they lost home court advantage, no one felt that the two teams were on the same level.

Ewing, who took advantage of the CIC to bully O'Neal's weaknesses, scored 30 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks, continued: "I said, it's not because they played well in the last game, but because I played poorly."

O'Neill's heart and his physique are seriously mismatched, so it's unbearable to hear Ewing talk like this.

When I walked in front of the media that night, I said: "Take my words down and go back to Orange City. I want to score 50 points in the Knicks inside!"

Ewing's response was even more explosive: "He wants to get 50 points? All right, if he can get it, I will retire!"

After Rauf, the Knicks have another person who doesn't leave a way out for him. I don't know if it's because of the environment, or people with this weird personality like to come to this team.

For some reason, Louie suddenly wanted to see O'Neal score 50 points.

If it happened, Ewing wouldn't retire, would he?

Although his brain is not good, but it is not enough to retire for this kind of thing.

No matter how you look at it, the character of being hard to follow after a word is not something that a person like him can have.

The next day, Tomjanovich took the initiative to come to Louis for advice: "Save poor Patrick!"

⑴ The millennium team refers to a few people who will grow into the league's dominant players in the new century.

(End of this chapter)