the rest, only noise

Chapter 703 should have attitude

On the eve of the semifinals, Ewing injured himself due to excessive training intensity.

This pissed Louis off.

Because he was not injured in the training session, but after the training session, he practiced privately and caused the injury.

"If you fucking think that the training time is not long enough to affect you as a model worker, just tell me, don't fucking play with me in private!" Louis yelled at Ewing, "This time I just twisted my knee. If you have a fucking ACL tear, what the fuck do you want me to do? What do you want the team to do?!"

Ewing lowered his head, not daring to answer.

The Knicks are strong and strong, and if you want to say that there is a shortage of players, it is still inside.

If Ewing is injured, or if Bowie is injured, he will indeed encounter some rotation problems.

Louie's usual practice is to let Bowie top the starting lineup, and John Saley replaces Bowie's original position.

It's the same this time. Louis can't tell what hidden dangers Ewing can't play, because although the Pacers have Danny Manning, the latter is not a typical seven-foot super center in the 90s.

Therefore, if Ewing does not play, it may reduce the Knicks' penalty area advantage, but will the Knicks' penalty area be blown up by Manning?
Louie didn't think so.

Before Game 1, Louis held a meeting to deal with the Pacers, and arranged in detail how to defend against Manning and Mookie Blaylock.

If Ewing was there, he wouldn't bother.

It's a pity that this orangutan suddenly lost the chain, and he can't be scolded too much. After all, he was also injured in training, although it was a stupid extra training.

"Dennis, Kevin."

Louie gave Rodman and McHale the task of guarding Manning.

Immediately, Tomjanovich played the video clip.

An offensive round of the Pacers appeared in the screen. Louis pointed to Manning and said: "Many of the Pacers' offenses can't be turned around without Danny Manning. For example, in this round, when Manning and MJ's cousin ([-]) are in pick-and-roll cooperation, he will choose to use his flexibility and quick turning speed to get rid of the defender. Pay attention to his movements."

⑴Louis used to give some distinctive nicknames to his opponents at the analysis meeting.

"How do we do it? It's simple. The defender bypasses the screen. Cousin MJ's long-range shot is not a big threat, and the focus is on defense. As for Manning, we must not give him a chance to easily rush to the basket. Kevin, Dennis, if you encounter this routine, remember to leave space and don't rush in. Remember, as long as you retreat to the basket and force him to use shooting to solve the problem, our plan will be completed."

This is a way to limit Manning's cooperation with his teammates, and Louie asked to implement it in all of Manning's pick-and-roll screens.

In other words, no matter who Manning plays the pick-and-roll with, he must follow this plan to defend.

Louis asked Tomjanovich to cut the screen.

Tomjanovich brought another picture to the players, the Pacers' main tactic two, the ball handler and the pick-and-roll at the fifth position.

Under the Pacers system, the fifth position is generally Oakley.He's tough enough to stand up to the rim even if he's not tall enough.

Moreover, this person has become more motivated after leaving New York. In order to make Manning play comfortably, he practiced an inaccurate three-pointer at the top of the arc.

This makes Blaylock and Oakley very threatening when they play the pick-and-roll.

Because he can shoot three-pointers, he can shoot from high positions, and he can also support in the middle, and he and Manning will not delay each other.

"It seems that after Oak went to Indiana, he was also influenced by the locals. This shot reminds me of that bumpkin in Boston."

Louie loves Byrd, everyone knows that.

"What if we see them doing this in the game? It's also simple." Things are simple when they come out of Louie's mouth, but it's another matter to execute them. "No matter who they are, as long as their insiders come to the perimeter and try to perform such a pick-and-roll, we must have someone follow them. Those who follow must resolutely flank him with the defenders of MJ's cousin and force MJ's cousin to stop the ball."

"What if Oak goes beyond the arc?" Stockton asked.

"Let him shoot, interfere as long as he can, and it doesn't matter if he can't." Louis asked with a smile, "You don't think Oak's three-pointer can kill us, do you? This is something that even Ralph didn't do."

"If you want to double-team, Oak may not necessarily bounce out." Wilson saw the problem, "Because we spent two manpower on MJ Cousin, so no matter what Oak decides to do, he is in a state of no one to take over. In addition to bouncing outside and shooting three-pointers, he can also choose to cut inside and attack the basket."

Louie clapped his hands a few times.

"My job would be a lot easier if you all used a little more wit in your meetings like Benj does."

Ewing snorted, expressing dissatisfaction.

"What the hell, it's just the things your father did that made me seriously prepare for this round of the series!" Louie's face was sometimes kind and sometimes ugly.

Ewing simply didn't want to hear Louis brag about Wilson like that.

Now being sprayed in the face again, he was both ashamed and angry.

"What are you looking at? Are you unconvinced?"

"No dare."

"What is your father afraid of? Your father has too much energy and likes to train, right? I beg you to use your brain next time when you do this again, and use up your excess energy and ask your father to practice an option? Your father won't go to the nightclub to find some flesh and blood? You are the gun king of Jamaica!"

"I'm not!!!"

Ewing growled.

"My mother said you are, and your father is!" Louis instantly became a villain, "Do you have any objections?"

"No"

Louis recovered his expression, and smiled at the others: "Why does this bastard insist on pissing me off? What has he done to such a talented person like me?"

Then Ewing left, and it had nothing to do with him.Since Ewing's knee sprain, Louie has been prepared to miss Ewing in the semifinals.

If he doesn't fully heal his knee, he won't necessarily let Ewing come back, let alone the semifinals, even the Eastern Conference finals.

After Ewing left, Louis made further arrangements in detail.

"Just now Benj said that if we pinch MJ's cousin, Oak or other insiders of the Pacers will choose to cut inside to attack our basket.

Louie picked up the tactical board, "When we flank MJ's cousin, assuming Oak cuts inside, the player on the weak side will rotate to cover the position. At the same time, the player on the 45-degree angle on the open side will be rotated to the Pacers player on the weak side who was emptied, because after going deep into the basket, it is easier to pass the ball to the bottom corner than to the 45-degree angle. When Oak or other Pacers inside think of teammates at a 45-degree angle, our defensive rotation in other positions will already be in place."

Defensive setup is different from offense.

Offensive can be about strategy, give the head players a general direction, and then let them play on the spot, using their favorite posture, how comfortable they are.

Defense is not good, defense only gives strategy, and players will be at a loss.

Just like what Louis just arranged, if you want to use a grand strategy to sum it up, you can use a few words: shrink and protect the penalty area, and let the opponent shoot from a long distance.However, how to protect, who will protect, and who to release, these are all problems.

If these problems are not clearly explained, the players will not know what to do.

Louis formulated such a strategy because the Pacers' long-range shooting percentage is only 31%, which is at the bottom of the league.

In the pre-match training session, Louis divided the match into two.

The average time for a match is only half the usual length.

Louis made the main players and the substitutes adapt to the new defensive routine, and the rest was to wait for the game time to come.

Game1
The Pacers' head coach, although technically a rookie coach, has been in the league for years.

His name is Dick Versace, and he was Billy Cunningham's assistant coach in the early years.

Ewing couldn't play, which made Versace see an opportunity.

Originally, like the Bucks, they didn't expect to win at all.

Now, maybe actually win a game or two.

However, Versace did not expect that Louis prepared a tight defense for them.

At the beginning of the game, the Pacers were blocked by the Knicks.

The Knicks defended entirely with an attitude of suffocating the Pacers.

In less than half a quarter, the Pacers were overwhelmed.

17 is better than 5
With a gap of 12 points, Versace quickly called a timeout. He knew that the Pacers' best inside and ball-handling pick-and-roll tactics were not working well.

He decided to amplify Manning's role, let Manning take the ball more, and let him create opportunities.

Manning is a player with a high BQ. After getting the ball, he is not in a hurry to shoot, and sends it to Oakley who cuts inside or a teammate who cuts across the baseline.

The Knicks gave the Pacers shooting space outside the three-point line, but they didn't take it directly and shoot. Instead, they first played the depth of the offensive end, and then slowly found the touch with the three-point space given by the Knicks.

The role of Versace is basically the same.

Control the field, stabilize the morale of the army, temporarily design a tactic to break the situation, and trust Manning unconditionally.

A player like Manning needs the full trust of the coach.

It is precisely because they trust Manning that they can beat the Heat in the first round.

However, when facing the Knicks, Manning alone is not enough.

In the second quarter, the Knicks were not satisfied with a 10-point lead. Wilson and Rodman led the second team to increase their speed and grab the rhythm.

Especially after Versace felt that the situation was wrong and called the first timeout of the second quarter, Wilson came back and immediately pushed a counterattack and scored 2+1.

When the rhythm came together, the Knicks, who scored 0 points on a fast break in the first quarter, scored 10 points in the second quarter using a fast break.

In the second half, the Knicks used defense + defensive counterattack to speed up. On the offensive end, Stockton's sudden points, Wex, Miller, Hornacek, Angie and others' shots completely destroyed the Pacers' internal and external defenses.

118 is better than 99
In Ewing's absence, the Knicks still defeated powerful enemies with the attitude that the overlord should have.

(End of this chapter)