the rest, only noise

Chapter 536

1988/5/20

In the morning, Louis woke up with a nightmare, and he hadn't had a good night's sleep in the past few days.

The game plan for Game 2 is already in his hands.

The planner is Zhao Yuanzheng, who is also Louis's most valued teaching assistant.Although Tomjanovich is his chief assistant, Zhao Yuanzheng's future is limitless.

He is a natural coach. He has been with Louis for four years and is proficient in various businesses. He is also the most versatile existence in Louis' assistant team.

This game plan made it clear that the series should be turned into a war of attrition.

The Celtics don't have as many people as the Knicks. Although the lineup is deep, they can't compare with the Knicks.

Moreover, Bird's back injury is also a major hidden danger for them.

Once Bird can't hold on, the Celtics have to concentrate the pressure on Sampson and Thomas.

The significance of this incident is that the Celtics' three unsolvable players became two.Thomas's unsolvability is slightly inferior to Bird and Sampson, after all, his long-range shots are unstable.As an insider, Sampson is inherently not as easy as guards and wings to catch the ball.

He is indeed a player that the Knicks can't deal with. The identity of the inside makes it easy for him to dominate the game, but it will also allow him to dominate the upper limit of the game, which is slightly worse than Bird's omnipotent wing.

This is the core meaning of Zhao Yuanzheng's game plan.

Drag
The longer the series stretches, the worse it is for the Celtics.

This was originally their advantage. Before Bird was injured, all teams that wanted to beat the Celtics had to pursue quick wins.

Once the two sides are at a stalemate, or the Knicks become the second team in four years to drag the Celtics into the tiebreaker like the Lakers in 1985, the Celtics' Big Three will explode with all their might, and the upper limit they can touch is unmatched by other teams.

Now, it's the other way around.

The Celtics wanted a quick win to allow Bird to end the season early to recuperate.

Therefore, whether the Knicks can drag this round of the series and kill the Celtics is the key to victory.

In this way, it is very important to win the next game away and return to MSG with a score of 1-1 instead of 2-0.

If you go home with 2-0, if you lose again, the Celtics will take four match points in a row, and there is no chance of a comeback.

1 to 1 is equivalent to returning to the starting line.

Louis opened the team's roster and seriously considered tonight's starting.

Reggie Miller must be changed. He was the top scorer in history before Ray Allen and Curry, but now he is just a rookie.In the future, he will become the most daunting sharp knife on the outside of the Knicks. Now it is a bit too early for him to be the vanguard in defeating the Celtics.

Louie took Miller out of the starting roster and was torn between Cooper and Dale Ellis.

In addition, the candidate for the starting point guard is also a question worth pondering.

Stockton, whom Louie considers the best general in history, played well in a tactical system that was more advanced than Utah's pick-and-roll system.

What Louis didn't expect was that when he used a more modern offensive system to benefit his players, the opponent would also change their thinking and use a modern defense to target the player's weaknesses.

Unlike Stockton and Malone's classic pick-and-roll, the Knicks' pick-and-roll does not necessarily end the inside line down. Everyone is moving, often with two tactics in parallel.

Stockton needs to use his tactical knowledge to find the best opportunity to complete the offense.

This kind of offense was very popular in the era when ball-handlers who hit the pick-and-roll and shoot three-pointers were popular.We don't have that concept and skills yet, so Louis has added a lot of strong and weak side pass and cut cooperation.

To play this tactic, the key depends on how Stockton plays the ball and the effect of playing pick-and-roll as a ball handler.

Starting with Don Nelson, for the first time, there was a way to give up defending the Knicks' ball handlers and choose to go around the back to open up space to maintain the defense.

This kind of defense will be shot through by Harden, Curry, Lillard, Irving and others in the future, but in this era, the Stocktons have never touched three-pointers since they were young, let alone have the habit of holding the ball from outside the three-point line. Naturally, there is no such shooting rhythm.

Therefore, when encountering such a defense, his pick-and-roll offense always has a sense of sight of the mysterious dance in Indian movies.

Even if you know that this Indian movie is good, people who don't like it don't want to click it (like me) because they will intersperse a lot of dance music in the movie.

Stockton found a way to deal with it, which is to break through.

Doing so can indeed solve his problem to a certain extent, but it seriously violates his game habits.

What is Stockton's style of play like?First of all, he is not very aggressive in passing the ball, but emphasizes accuracy, so he also relies on the positioning of his teammates.

Organizations like Kidd and Rondo can be regarded as winning steadily and watching their teammates move out and give the ball in time.

Like Nash, Curry, Harden, and Westbrook, those who actively attack to destroy the opponent's defense and give assists are considered creative.

Stockton cannot be strictly divided into these two categories.

He belongs to the five-point rhythm five-point creation.

After coaching him for four years, Louie knew that Stockton seldom drove to the basket, and even if it was called a pick-and-roll, he liked to organize near the free throw line.

He doesn't get too deep into the basket, so he doesn't make many free throws and doesn't do enough damage.His every move is to instigate the offense of his teammates, and he doesn't care much about his own offense.

The problem the Celtics give him now is to let him attack by himself.

Once the opponent finds that he is also passing the ball when he breaks through to the basket, the defensive focus will be more obvious.

Louie called the rooms of both Stokes and Miller and asked them to come to him.

If you want them to play as substitutes, you must explain the reasons for doing so clearly to them before announcing the decision.

The process went smoothly. Miller, as a rookie, has far exceeded his expectations by being a starter in his rookie season. It is completely acceptable to sit on the bench now that he is not performing well.

Stockton is simpler than expected.

"Is it because I can't make threes?" he asked.

"Yes, and no." Louie explained, "The Celtics have indeed made a list of plans based on your game habits, but this is also based on the premise that we have not prepared a second plan for you. If there is only one way of playing, it is normal to be targeted. You will not sit on the bench for a long time, so be ready to play at any time."

Stockton had no further objections.

In the training session in the afternoon, Louis announced tonight's starting lineup.

"Bostonians think they've won. I just want them to know that the first loss was just an accident. From now on, every game will be a war!"

News of Louie's change in the starting line-up sparked a positive response among the players.

In the following training session, Louis didn't want the players to waste too much energy, and just practiced casually.

That night, Boston Garden.

Every time he comes here, Louie is proud of the fact that he has worked there for seven years.

How did he persevere?The environment of the garden is really stinky.

If all the arenas in the league are compared together, there is no one that can surpass it.

However, Louis has this idea, which is related to the fact that the Bucks and Bulls have no chance to play until June.

For example, all the old arenas named after the xxx gymnasium are basically products of half a century ago.

Since they are all old objects, it is normal to pull the hips under certain conditions.

"But this is too hip!"

When Louis shook hands with KC Jones, he said: "The majestic overlord who has won four consecutive championships, the home court is so bad, and you don't mention it to the above."

KC said heartily: "MSG is the most luxurious arena in the league, but how about your results? Although the garden is old, it allows us to keep working hard. MSG is rich and beautiful outside, and if we can't win, no matter how good the home court is, it's useless."

Louis was speechless at this logic of forcibly linking results with home games.

Is this different from spraying Curry for not having an FMVP, spraying James for holding a group, spraying Jordan for not being able to pass the first round without Pippen?They are all using facts to sophistry, it is better to spray Harden on the "genuine goods" of pulling his hips in key games.

"Okay, don't be too complacent." Louis put away his smiling face, and changed from an old friend to a great enemy of the Celtics. "The era of your dominance is over."

KC said confidently: "That depends on your abilities, Lu."

The two sides threw the ball for a while, and both replaced the starters.

The Celtics lineup has changed a bit since Game [-]. The starting [-] is Danny Ainge, the starting [-] is Ron Harper, and the starting [-] is...Bird?
Sampson played center and Lambiel came off the bench.

"Larry playing the four, what do they mean?" Louis didn't think it was a good decision to play the four with Bird, who was still recovering from his back injury.

Is KC crazy?Or is Bird's injury not as serious as imagined?

"No, isn't this lineup too aimed at us?" Tomjanovich felt something was wrong, "How did they know that we were going to change the lineup, and how did they know what kind of lineup we were going to change? Could it be..."

Louis was not surprised at all.

His eyes turned to the smiling old man in the middle of the garden——Reid Auerbach, of course he could find out the news about the Knicks' change.

"So are we going to go ahead with the plan?" Tomjanovich asked.

Although the Celtics' change is very targeted, it is not enough to be targeted. Some of them are targeted, but they don't seem to be that strong. For example, are they serious about letting Bird play the fourth position?
"do not worry."

Louis did not change the team's lineup.

Game2 Knicks starters are: Hornacek, Michael Cooper, Wilson, Oakley, Ewing.

"This lineup...is the Knicks going to use their full-court press from the start???"

said Dick Stockton in surprise.

(End of this chapter)