the rest, only noise

Chapter 545 The Most Dangerous Moment

Louie sat there, watching the monster he indirectly created celebrate the away victory.

Even for them, winning at the Knicks' home court is not easy.

Bird knew what they were doing, and they were crushing the Knicks.

They made Louie doubt himself and his team for the first time.

Can they really beat the Celtics?

Louie stood up like the walking dead, and KC Jones was still waiting for him to shake hands.

"You guys are still close, Lu." KC laughed.

The score was 107 to 99.

It seems that there are only 8 points, but the difference is not only the 8 points.

Bird has 27 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in a single game. His role is far greater than the data.

Sampson has 26 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists. His performance is as exaggerated as his data.

For the Knicks, the internal and external dual cores are not satisfactory.

Wilson was overwhelmed by Bird and only scored 16 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, shooting 41%. Ewing's efficiency was normal, with 18 points and 14 rebounds. He didn't lose much to Sampson, but judging from the scene, Sampson won too much.

The Knicks led the team with 21 points from Dell Ellis.

Dr. J is a perfect example. If the outcome of the game cannot be determined by the strongest player in the team at a critical moment, the team will most likely perish.

Louis shook KC's hand, not wanting to say anything.

In front of the reporters, Louis lost his calm conversation in the past.

Regarding the evaluation of this game, he said succinctly: "Bird and Sampson played better."

Louie is very angry. The biggest limitation of being a coach is that even if he makes no mistakes in the game and the tactical plan is perfect, his team will still lose.

Players' psychology is difficult to grasp, and more experienced strong teams often use psychological warfare to defeat young strong teams.

That's what Bird did to Wilson.

The locker room was dead, and no one spoke.

Some people are waiting for Louie's fury, some people are thinking about how to continue the series, some people are painfully isolated from their teammates, and some people have decided that they can't beat the Celtics.

"Don't put on an expression that it's over, we haven't lost yet." Louis' voice was deep, and he didn't get angry.

Because the time has not yet come, he wants to get angry, but not now.

This is the time when morale is at its lowest, and putting another knife in everyone's chest will not solve the problem.

"Go back and have a good rest." Louis found the only player in the locker room who didn't look depressed, "Dell, you and I will attend the press conference together."

On the way, Alice didn't speak, and Louis didn't find anything to say.

In the media access room, a group of reporters waited to make things difficult for Louis.

Especially the media from New England, they can't wait to see if Louie's mouth is still so hard.

"Little Lu, after this game, do you still think the Knicks have a chance to win?"

Louis' expression remained unchanged: "Since we are not out yet, of course we have a chance to win."

"You can't do anything about Larry and Ralph. What else is there to do to win?"

"I don't know," Louie said, "but we'll find a way."

Ellis, who always refuses the media thousands of miles away, is the most active and enthusiastic person in the Knicks tonight.

"I'm very happy. This game shows that the Celtics really regard us as an opponent." Ellis showed a rare optimism. "This loss allowed them to regain the home court advantage. For us, this just represents the series returning to the starting line."

These words are usually said by Louis, but now he is really not in the mood to speak official words.

From this point of view, letting Ellis come to the press conference was the best thing he did tonight.

Farewell to the media, Louis asked Ellis: "Do you really think the series is back to the starting line?"

"Yes, Coach." Ellis replied, "Don't you think so?"

"I do think so, but I'm not as optimistic as you." Louis said helplessly, "Bird completely destroyed Benj on the court, and Patrick is not yet Sampson's opponent."

"It's going to be fine, Coach."

"Whether it's Benj or Patrick." Ellis said, "A few years ago, the Knicks were nothing. No one could believe that we would be the opponent of the Celtics in a few years. We have reached this point. It has exceeded many people's expectations. The rest is a gift. We just need to go all out."

It's hard to imagine that Louis was actually comforted and encouraged by the most autistic person in the Knicks.

What if he traded Ellis?Since the Eastern Conference finals, he is the Knicks' most reliable shooter, ranking second in the team in points per game, second only to Wilson.

Miller is too young, and Hornacek is the biggest threat in the left and right corners, but in this round of the series, the Knicks haven't had the luxury to let him go to the corner to smoke and wait for the ball.

Therefore, if Louis trades Ellis, the Knicks are likely to lose a reliable shooter on the outside, which is the biggest benefit for the Celtics, who have the league's first center.

Sampson can now sweep the paint as much as he likes.

I ended up making the right decision.
Louis thought.

By the third game of the series, the Knicks basically had no cards.

The two teams have been entangled for two years, the lineup is generally stable, and they know the bottom line.

The only change is the defense.

After the defeat in G3, Louis replayed the game afterwards, feeling that he was a bit led by the nose by the Celtics.

The Knicks built their team on defense, but in order to face the Celtics' offense, he kept switching lineups, subconsciously ignoring the Knicks' biggest reliance.

defense.

Now, with the Knicks' morale at rock bottom, Louie isn't sure what will happen if he incites them to go all-in on defense.

No, "beating chicken blood" is a last resort in every sense, a struggle when the donkey is at the end of its rope, and it must not be done now.

The day after the game, the league announced that Ralph Sampson was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1987-88 regular season.

There is no suspense, Bird's age and back injury are here, and the Celtics are bound to make a handover.

Sampson is at his peak, and he is an all-around offensive and defensive center. He is the most suitable candidate.

Being elected MVP this year can be regarded as some kind of signal. Perhaps from next season, Sampson will replace Bird as No.1 in the league.

But he still needs to prove himself.

Defeating the Knicks and leading the team to the finals to win five consecutive championships is the best way to prove yourself.

The Celtics' coaching staff noticed Sampson's high morale. Therefore, on May 5, on the night of Game 24 of the Eastern Conference Finals, KC Jones made an unprecedented substitution for Isiah Thomas.

They started with Angie, Weidman, Bird, Lambiel, and Sampson.

Throughout the game, they were dominated by a three-point system. Sampson played alone at the free throw line and in the low post, and the others opened up the four lines.

Standard one-star four-shot.

Louis tried all the methods. Ewing defended alone and got blasted; in the double attack, Sampson passed the ball to let his teammates shoot three-pointers;

Throughout the game, he was trying to find a way to deal with Sampson.

His players worked hard, but Sampson was unsolvable. He had a matchup advantage against anyone. In order to limit him, the Celtics placed several bottles of poison on the outside.

Louis chose Weidman, who had the lowest three-point shooting percentage.

It turned out that the decision was wrong, and the Celtics opened the score at halftime.

In the second half, Louie tried to chase points with a 5-out lineup, putting both Ewing and McHale off the court. As a result, the defense was overwhelmed, but only a symbolic recovery of a little point.

In the fourth quarter, Sampson made two consecutive pick-and-rolls and opened a three-pointer.

The suspense of the game was eliminated from that time.

The morale of the main players has completely disappeared, and they are like deflated balls that don't know how to resist.

Louis finally couldn't bear it any longer, he replaced the main players angrily, and in the last 4 minutes when the outcome was decided, Hornacek, Cooper, Rodman, Stevens and Sely were the main players, and the audience pressed hard until the end of the game.

Normal tactics and strategies have lost their effect. The Celtics' victory comes from the crushing of hard power. If they want to win, they must use physical confrontation and defense to suppress.

But he couldn't see any blood in the starters.

When the Knicks' subs scored 4 to 12 in the last 4 minutes, allowing the Knicks to end the game 101 to 112, Louie yelled at Ewing, McHale, and Wilson: "You better remember this game! This is your shame. At home, facing the bullying of those bastards in Boston, you didn't resist. Let them dominate the game. In the end, even the subs showed more fighting spirit than you! I don't know what you are afraid of. They are the defending champions." Champions, and you ain't no shit in the league, you've never won! What the fuck is that shit about?"

"If you fucking don't want to play anymore, just tell me, there are plenty of benches for you to sit on, don't take your disgusting attitude to disgust me on the court, disgusting fans!" Louie knew that there was a camera on him.

What he has to do is to let the whole world see him reprimanding the starters.

Next, the public opinion of the media will help him put pressure on him. What he has to do is to maintain high pressure in daily training and in the following games.

As for the 1 to 3 behind the Celtics?It doesn't matter, from now on, all he has to do is to dehumanize the gang of bastards under his command and let them play as beasts. If they can win a game, the Celtics will never advance to the finals intact.

Louie now knows why his team couldn't do anything when they already had a good squad.

Because he is too nostalgic.

At this point, he still regards certain people in the Celtics as his friends, so he can't be as hard-hearted as Bird.

Now is the time!

Louie ignored KC Jones, who wanted to shake his hand, and walked past him.

(End of this chapter)