the rest, only noise

Chapter 531 Winner's Pride

"Dennis, you replace Benj."

After the timeout, the first adjustment Louis made was to replace Wilson for a rest.

Next, he replaced Stockton with Hornacek.

The Celtics' defensive strategy is not complicated. To sum it up directly, it is to find a way to assign the opponent's worst offensive player to Bird.

In the Knicks' starting lineup, Stockton's autonomous offensive ability is not strong, but he is a point guard. If Bird is used to defend, even if they are all white, the former's speed is not comparable to that of the latter. Therefore, letting Bird guard Miller is the safest strategy.

"Reggie, do you know why Larry came to guard you?" Louis said mercilessly, "Because you are the weakest player on our books, you have to stand up and score, let them remember you!"

"Dennis, no matter what you do on the defensive end, hang on to Larry, use any means, don't care about the number of your fouls, remember, he is injured!" Louis meant, don't let a wounded Byrd blow up.

How Rodman would interpret that last sentence is another story.

"Little Lu, the timeout is over!"

The referee Paul Michalak came over and reminded.

The players were ready to play, and Louie grabbed Hornacek and said while walking: "Every time we pick and roll, the Celtics' defenders will retreat. They expected that we would not catch the gap of less than a second."

"Coach, what do you want me to do?" Hornacek asked.

Louis said seriously: "If they give you a chance to shoot, even if it's less than a second, you have to shoot."

Hornacek hesitated a bit: "That's not my shooting rhythm."

"Just vote!" Louis encouraged, "It's your job to get in, not mine!"

The timeout ended, the Knicks replaced two starters, and the Celtics lineup remained unchanged.

12 is better than 4
Seeing the Knicks' substitution, Dick Stockton habitually consulted his two partners.

Billy Cunningham and Tom Heinsohn both had championships as head coaches, even without mentioning their Hall of Fame careers.

"Billy, Tom, what do you think of the Knicks' substitution?"

"If you ask me, little Lu is in a hurry to go to the doctor."

Given the opportunity, Cunningham would deny Louie: "Is Jeff Hornacek better than John Stockton? I don't see it. You know Stockton was just selected to the second team and led the league in assists, and Hornacek was just his backup. Remove Stockton from the Knicks, and they will lose at least 10 more regular-season games. Remove Hornacek? I don't think it will change anything."

"As for Dennis Rodman's replacement of Benjamin Wilson, it can better reflect Little Lu's panic. It is normal for Benjamin to suffer in front of Larry. There are gaps in their experience, immediate combat power, skills, and strength. Without Benjamin, can the Knicks sweep the Pistons? I don't think so. This young man is the future of New York, and being blown up by Larry is the only way for his career, but his coach doesn't think so."

Cunningham's malice towards Louis can be felt even by those who don't know the past between them.

"It can be seen that little Lu is a person who is eager for quick success." Cunningham gave his conclusion, "He is unwilling to give young people the soil and space to grow up, and only looks at the results and not the process..."

"Cough cough..."

"Tom, are you all right?"

"I'm all right, Billy, can I just say a few words?"

Heinsohn's position is on the Celtics' side, and he is unwavering in this regard.

Although Louis is now the head coach of the Knicks, he has been in Boston for six or seven years, and his planning is indispensable for the establishment of the Celtics dynasty.

In 1984, he led the team to win the championship, which laid the foundation for the Celtics to restore the dynasty in the 60s for four consecutive hegemonies.

Although the "purple suit" incident in 1985 and the notorious "cigar smoking" before the end of the game caused Celtic fans to hate him, it did not affect them old people, including Reid Auerbach. The old green players spoke highly of him.

They regretted the departure of Louis. In terms of age, if they want to find a successor for Auerbach, he is the most suitable.

After leaving the Celtics, he also proved that he is not only a top scout and coach, but also can become the chief architect of a championship team like Auerbach did back then.

It only took him four years to get this far, and it's impossible for the vast majority of people to fault his work.

Cunningham used his own selfishness to attack in the commentary booth. If he just said a few words casually, Heinsohn would not respond.

Unexpectedly, well, the more this guy talked, the more excited he was, and he meant to trample all of Louis' past achievements on the ground without counting them.

So he pretended to cough, interrupted Cunningham's "casting", and then supported Louis: "Some time ago, "Sports Illustrated", "New York Times", "Associated Press", "24 Hours" and "USA Today" held a joint vote to vote for the best head coach in the NBA. The five most influential newspapers in the United States, 25 reporters made their choices, and Louis got 19 votes."

"It's nothing at all, reporters don't understand the game at all."

"Yeah, and then they did an anonymous vote and they took 50 players in the league to choose the best head coach in their minds. Louie still got 24 votes and came in first."

Heinsohn smiled lightly: "Billy, I don't think you should blame Little Lu for not being able to lead the team to defeat the Celtics, because the Celtics are a true dynasty team, and no one can beat them. Moreover, I don't think Little Lu is helpless, the series has just begun."

When Heinsohn and Cunningham had a dispute over Louis, McHale, as the oldest player in the team, took the responsibility.

On the left elbow, McHale held Sampson with his back.

Hornacek is not in a hurry to implement Louis' strategy, and it is a good thing for them that McHale should be in position.

The ball was passed, and the moment McHale got the basketball, Louis shouted, "Kevin, you are definitely not Ralph's opponent, don't be ashamed!"

McHale originally wanted to keep a low profile and attract defensive passes, but Louis actually underestimated him so much, so he couldn't bear it, and had to fuck with Sampson!
McHale slammed into the back with all his strength, and the focus of his elbow was obviously against the rules, but the referee didn't care about his small movements.

Sampson took an elbow, and McHale made an unpredictable right turn fake and then turned left and turned a fadeaway jumper.

The action was too fast, and Sampson was deceived by his right turn, and his center of gravity flew out. Unexpectedly, McHale turned left to throw away his [-]-meter body and scored beautifully.

McHale scratched his armpit hair disdainfully: "Just here?"

"I understand the truth, can you stop scratching your armpit hair? I don't want to see it!" Louie yelled.

Instead of listening to Louie, McHale felt that scratching his armpits was an important ritual, as if everyone wanted to see him scratch them.

McHale's series of actions clearly aroused Sampson's fighting spirit.

Sampson runs like a glider. The running posture of great players is different from that of ordinary people.

They always fly close to the ground as if they had grown wings.

Sampson's teammates knew he wanted to get back on the field.

Louis put his fingers together and shouted: "tighten up!" (shrink the defense line)

Sampson had calculated well, but his opponent was not defenseless.

Every game day, Sampson has about 11% of his offense, and he will use the method of "running to the frontcourt to receive the ball outside the three-point line, and attacking the basket directly without stopping".

He has a high hit rate in this offensive mode.

The Celtics were able to give him enough space to imagine what it would be like for a two-foot-two big man to dribble and charge like a Greek monster and be crushed by his body.

However, Louie knew what Sampson was going to do by the way he ran.

So let the players tighten the defense in advance.

Sampson's offense with the ball is no longer fierce, and it is difficult to score with three or four people.

When he concentrates on attacking, he often ignores the position of his teammates. This may be Sampson's biggest shortcoming.

Even if you pass the ball, there is only one target...

"Don't pass it to Larry!" Thomas saw the Knicks' trap.

It's too late. When people are in a panic, not only will their vision become narrow, but even their ears will not work well.

Sampson's pass goes to Bird, who doesn't look.

The ball went out first, and he saw Rodman defending Bird. He never left Bird's side. The Knicks' "tighten up" did not include him!
Rodman cut off Sampson's pass, and Hornacek and Miller quickly played at the same time.

Rodman made an awkward pass that just landed in Miller's palm.

This rookie who has been dormant for a long time finally has a chance to score the first point of his career in the Eastern Conference Finals...

"Reggie watch out!"

Unbelievable, Sampson chased back.

He did make a turnover, so when he saw Bird's spot being taken by Rodman, he knew what was coming.

When Miller and Hornacek were about to go down, he was the first Celtics player to catch up.

He flashed across the court like a shooting star, the garden cheered like the roar of an arriving train, and Miller's layup was bloodily fanned out of bounds by Sampson.

"Coach, remember to thank Kevin for me." Today, Sampson is much more mature than when Louis left Boston. He has a mustache, but he can no longer hide the arrogance of a winner. "Thanks to him, I am much more sober."

Louie could see the change in the expression on Sampson's face up close.

The league's No. [-] center is ready to start his reign.

Players from the Celtics and Knicks came to the frontcourt one after another.

After McHale arrived, he didn't forget the yin and yang, Sampson: "Wow, the hot pot just now was amazing, but if you don't make mistakes, you don't have to work so hard. Don't make mistakes next time."

Sampson said with a smile: "Well, I just reviewed my mistakes deeply."

(End of this chapter)