the rest, only noise

Chapter 941 A Bad Change

Portland, Memorial Coliseum.

The second conversation between the Knicks and the Trail Blazers took place here.

One side is No. [-] in the West, and the other is temporarily No. [-] in the East.

The Blazers have occupied the top spot since the beginning of the season. At present, more than half of the schedule has passed, and they are firmly in the top spot with a record of 56 wins and 6 losses.

They have won almost every strong team.

The only strong team that let them lose was the Los Angeles Clippers.

As for other strong teams, like the Lakers and Suns in the same division, the Heat, Pacers, and Knicks in the East, they haven't let them lose a game yet.

The Blazers always take the strong teams very seriously, and then accidentally lose to the weak teams.

That kind of careless Jingzhou-style failure is not worthy of attention.

So far, the only reference value is the Clippers win against the Trail Blazers.

Louie hopes that the Blazers can swallow a worthwhile loss before the two sides meet again in the final.

The Blazers just want to kill the Knicks. They are confident, determined, and capable.

The Knicks hope to find the lifeline of the Blazers. Even if they are double-killed by the opponent, as long as they can find the opponent's death spot in this game, they can make more preparations for the next meeting.

Although such an idea disrespects other teams in the East, in Louie's view, as long as there are no major changes, it should be a certainty for the Knicks to reach the finals.

Their opponents had the same thoughts.

But the Blazers' plan isn't to kill the Knicks.

Because the Knicks have no goals, and the lineup is balanced enough.

But balance does not mean impeccable. When the intensity of the competition reaches a certain level, those few people can really determine the outcome.

In Pat Riley's view, the Knicks' lower limit depends on Louis, and the upper limit depends on Wilson and Ewing.

As for the Blazers, Riley also represents the lower limit, and Jordan, Barkley, Thomas, and Sabonis determine the upper limit.

The Knicks are a classic dual-core, while the Trail Blazers are a quad-core drive unprecedented in basketball history.

Generally speaking, with so many cores, the possession of the ball must not be divided.

But the Blazers are a special case.

The number one player, Jordan, has been at the top of the league since he entered the league. He was only one goal away from the championship last year.

As long as he can win the championship, he can make sacrifices.

Barkley doesn't need to sacrifice anything, as long as he keeps his mouth shut, he is the league's number one power forward.

Thomas learned how to be the third child in Boston, and the shock suffered by Charlotte made him see himself further, so after he came to Oregon, he integrated quickly.

Sabonis has always been the strongest player in the world outside the NBA. If he came to the United States when he was young, he would undoubtedly become a super center.Now, his body is no longer at the peak, but his game awareness and skills have reached the peak. As an older rookie, his immediate combat power is very strong, and he also knows that his tactical position can only be ranked fourth in the starting lineup, but he can do it easily and calmly.

In terms of starting strength alone, the Blazers are the number one in history.

Not to mention the Verdun line of defense that made the entire league fearful.

The Blazers are so strong that they can ignore the Knicks and don't care what problems their opponents have. As long as they focus on their own performance, they can get everything done.

After more than half a year, the Knicks came to the Blazers' home court again.

Riley was dressed as usual, wearing a big black Armani suit, plus a big oily head that was completely backed up, quite a bit of the charm of Al Pacino in "The Godfather".

"I hope we can play a wonderful game." Riley said kindly.

Louie believed that Riley must have given Jordan and the others a bloodbath before the game started.

Something like, "Remember how they beat us last year?" He must have said it.

exciting competition?
Louis believes that this game will be exciting, but as for whether it is exciting at the basketball level or at the story level, it is hard to say.

Even if the game is ugly, if the two sides fight all the way, the fans will definitely think the game is "exciting".

Louie hadn't thought of turning this fight into a boxing match, it was just an assumption he made.

Before the opening game, Louie carefully observed the Blazers' warm-up.

The Blazers' warm-up is interesting.

Except for Nance, the other four starters: Jordan, Thomas, Barkley, and Sabonis all stood outside and tried to shoot three-pointers.

Thomas' three-pointer from the top of the arc looked good.

Watching Thomas practice three-pointers in a serious manner, Louie's heart sounded an alarm.

Thomas really intends to carry out the support work to the end?
When he was with Bird, he didn't specifically practice three-pointers.

If Thomas' three-pointer is also practiced, can the Blazers' starter still be defended?

"Isaiah started practicing three-pointers?" Tomjanovich was beside Louis, "This is not very good."

"That's a bit of an understatement for you to say that."

Is it not just bad?

It's like asking a black person to play Snow White. Not only is it not good, it's already out of line, okay?

By the way, Americans really let black people (Latins) play Snow White
Seeing Thomas regularly practice three-pointers at the top of the arc, Louis temporarily decided to adjust the starting list.

When the Star Spangled Banner was being sung, Louis glanced over and didn't see Mohamed Rauf.

"Where's MAR?" Louie asked.

"Corridor?" Wilson wasn't sure.

"What the hell's wrong with this guy?" Louie asked petulantly. "Does he not like the song 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' or does the flag offend him?"

Rodman laughed and said, "There is something wrong with him, coach, have you forgotten?"

"That's not what I said!" Louie recalled that Rauf's avoidance of the opening ceremony of the national anthem began last December.

It was also at that time that he changed his name.

Stockton said indifferently; "He is a country hater."

"Who is going to tell him that he will start tonight?"

Louis spread the word, and Stockton was even more dissatisfied with Rauf when he learned that Rauf was starting tonight.

"I'll go." Yu Tiancan said enthusiastically.

After the ceremony, Rauf and Yu Tiancan ran out of the player channel together.

Louie did not ask Rauf why he avoided the national anthem before the game.

He couldn't imagine anyone hating their own country's flag and anthem, but Rauf clearly hated the American flag and anthem.

Such behavior and thinking are unacceptable anywhere.

No matter what his reasons are, as long as the matter is exposed, he will bear terrible negative public opinion.

So Louis ignored it, because Rauf must have a reason to do so. He is a foreigner, so he doesn't have to worry about it.

"John is upset that you took his place in the starting lineup, you better play nice for me."

Louie encouraged Rauf to say.

Rauf has just one question: "Should I play smooth, or do I play aggressively?"

"When tens of thousands of fans are swearing at you, what is the probability that you will remain stable?"

"0."

"Since you know, don't ask stupid questions." Louie said energetically, "Be brave and be yourself when you go on stage!"

Rauf's replacement for Stockton in the starting lineup means another thing.

The Knicks start with two players with unlimited firepower.

Although Wilson usually keeps his average number of shots per game within 20, but facing such a strong opponent as the Blazers, and using those rules to restrain himself, let alone his own disagreement, if Louis knew, he would definitely send his sincere greetings to the eighteenth generation of his ancestors.

As soon as the Knicks started, Rauf's replacement for Stockton caught the attention of NBC commentators.

"Mohammad Rauf's wonderful performance in last year's finals helped the Knicks win a game." Bob Costas said, "Does Little Lu hope to use his strength again to change the situation?"

Costas' partner is the tragedy division.

NBC seems to be trying to play a tragic role. After all, everyone knows that it was the joint efforts of the Knicks and the Celtics that made him suffer so many consecutive defeats in the finals.

Now, the Blazers have a chance to end the Knicks' dominance, so let the tragedian be the analyst.

I think back when the Tragedy Master was on the team, the "Xiaoxiao" like the Blazers hadn't been tricked by him in the Western Conference Finals, but today he has become a master.

"That's right, the Knicks need Mohamed's perimeter threat!"

Things have come to this point, the tragedian can only echo one nonsense.

On the opening jump ball, Ewing beat Sabonis.

Rauf dribbles forward.

Before Rauf's card could play a role, Kemp took the initiative to lean against Nance's body, and the right-wing waist got stuck and asked for the ball.

"Oh! It's Sean Kemp!"

"Reign Man's performance is getting better and better after signing a big contract last month, and now he has firmly occupied the starting lineup, as strong as Dennis Rodman can only be a substitute."

Kemp catches the ball, dribbles first, and then initiates the turn.

His turn is very Georgetown University flavor.

All the insiders from this school have beautiful turning movements, but Kemp has never studied in Georgetown, and he learned his movements from Ewing.

But learning from Ewing does not mean that his back hitting will be as formulaic as Ewing.

Let’s just say that this turn around has the shape of George Town, but it has a unique soul.

Except for Kemp, Louis has never seen an inside line attacking with a back to the basket and then receiving a turn and face basket at such a fast speed.

Larry Nance, already one of the best athletic power forwards, was slow as a tortoise in the face of Kemp's whirlwind turns.

Kemp is like the rabbit in the tortoise and the hare, throwing off Nance's defense without any suspense, rushing to the basket and dunking.

2 is better than 0
"This is Reign Man!" Kostas yelled. "He is the youngest player in the Knicks' starting lineup and one of the fastest improving players in the league. Even for Larry Nance, Kemp is a tough nut to crack!"

The Blazers responded with the ball and found Ewing.

Sabonis high pick and roll.

With the help of the pick-and-roll, Thomas passed Rauf effortlessly. Ewing's supplementary defense caused some trouble, but he was too fast.

No matter how fast the gorilla is, he is still a seven-foot-tall center forward. Facing the smiling assassin in his early six-footers, his supplementary defense was instantly broken through.

The assassin, who thought he could score smoothly, made a layup, but was covered by Kemp from the wing.

But Nance, who followed up, grabbed the offensive rebound and dunked.

　I'm not in the mood to code when I'm eating melons

　　
　
(End of this chapter)