the rest, only noise

Chapter 974 Naive Coach Road
June 1993, 6, the opening day of the finals.

In the morning, the Portland Trail Blazers' special plane landed in New York.

"Sports Illustrated" called them the Vengeance Team.

Jordan needs to give an explanation for his nine-year sports career without a championship;
Barkley needs to give an account of the sweat he spilled on the training ground;
Thomas needs to give himself an explanation;
Riley needs to prove he can succeed outside the Lakers environment.

The Blazers are in so much demand that Riley's botched live performances can win people over.

Here's the thing, Riley looks back at the Knicks' 1988 win over the Celtics.Although Bird's back injury is the decisive factor, the Knicks' mentality change from a newborn calf to a downhill tiger is also crucial.

Why did the Knicks change from a calf to a tiger?Because their head coach, Louie, has drawn the line with everything in Boston.

Although Riley has nothing to do with New York, Riley has already copied so many homework, why not add this one?
So at the airport, when Riley was interviewed, he would first ask which media the other party was from.

If it was the New York media, he would put on an arrogant look: "I have nothing to say to you before the game is over."

Riley's actions sparked speculation and discussions among the New York media that "this man may have some serious illness".

But Riley is disciplined with steel, and as he does, the players have to do the same.

Therefore, not only Riley, the Blazers players also refused to be interviewed by the New York media.

Riley pretends to be 13, but Jordan also pretends to be 13?

It is hard for the New York media not to spray.

But we have to wait until tomorrow to start spraying. If the Knicks lose tonight, it's hard to say who they will spray at that time.

Before going out that night, Louis saw Lorraine seriously dressing up. Looking at this posture, those who knew it knew that he was going to watch the game, and those who didn't know thought he was going to the Oscars to walk the red carpet.

"You are already very beautiful, if you keep dressing up, I won't be worthy of you." Louis hoped that Lorraine would control his "attractiveness".

Lorraine smiled and said, "Coach Lu, when did you start to feel unconfident?"

"Every time you come to the garden to watch a football match, the whole audience, regardless of gender, is staring at you."

At that time, Louis would take a look at his stomach.

He would question himself: Louis, why do you, a fat man, push this cabbage?

In fact, Louis is not so obese that he needs to be called a "dead fat man". He just has a small belly that can't be lost, and everything else is normal.

But it's like a blemish on Honoka Tsujii's belly that's hard to ignore.

It's not that Louis is so narrow-minded that his wife can be kicked out of the jealousy after being looked at a few more times. It's not that, after all, Lorraine's appearance is at its peak, let alone a man, a woman will be stunned by seeing it.

It's just that the more perfect Lorraine looked, the more Louis felt that the small belly on his body was an eyesore.

Whenever Louis moaned like this, Ewing couldn't help but say, "Then you lost weight?"

And then Louie goes crazy, because it's clearly a gorilla mocking his failed weight loss career.

"Use a lighter lipstick." Louis turned into the master's husband, not only helping Lorraine choose clothes, but also helping her choose the lipstick color. "Rose red is too strong, and it looks like a bad woman."

Lorraine said innocently: "But I am a good woman."

"Yeah, so let's go for a less aggressive shade."

Apart from Lorraine, Lu Wuxia and Wang Zhizhi both went to watch the game.

Lu Wuyan was not interested in the competition, so she was left at home.

Tonight, Madison Square Garden

The Gardens are buzzing every night, with or without a Knicks game, and MSG is one of the most famous stadiums in the world.

Only today, the front row fans who came to watch the game were either rich or expensive.

For them, it doesn't matter whether they can understand the game or not, it is very important to have their own front row seat in the finals.

After a year, when he came to the garden again, Riley was filled with emotions.

"Coach Lu, do you think that before the end of the dynasty, do those who created the dynasty have any omens in their hearts?"

When Riley saw Louis, he asked emotionally.

"I don't think so." Louis is willing to discuss this issue with him. "However, those who aim to overthrow the dynasty will have a strong premonition. Before we defeated the Celtics in 1988, I felt that we could win, and the Celtics had no signs of losing from the inside out."

Hearing this, Riley couldn't help laughing and said: "Coach Lu, don't you think that this moment is just like this moment?"

Riley deliberately provoked this topic, is he trying to compare today's Knicks to the Celtics back then?

In other words, the Trail Blazers today are the Knicks in 1988?

Why did Riley have such an idea?Louie is unknown, but the analogy is not correct.

Because before the Eastern Conference finals started that year, no one thought the Knicks would win.

That Knicks team was so young that no one, except Dell Ellis, could finish a game and say, "I've reached the peak of my career."The truth is that the Knicks shouldn't have won, but they did, and that's what makes them special.

And what about the Trail Blazers today?Fans who think they can win account for more than 60% of the audience.

They can't be considered young as a whole, and they have basically reached the peak of their careers.

This is completely different from the Knicks.

The Knicks lost can be said to have a promising future, and the Blazers have no excuses for losing.

And the fact is the same, most of them are optimistic about the Blazers.

Therefore, Riley insisted on bringing up this metaphor, and Louie didn't say anything.

"Maybe, Pat."

The biggest difference between the Knicks and the Celtics is that the Celtics never thought they would lose, and Louis seems to have seen the scene where the Knicks were defeated.

This kind of thinking is pessimistic, but considering the strength, personnel reserve, competitive state, and chemical reaction of both the enemy and the enemy, this result is in line with the logic of basketball.

But, just throw in the towel?

This is not Louis' style.

In Louie's mind, there are many key factors in this round of the series, the Blazers' offensive and defensive strength and the challenges it brings, the Knicks' determination to defend the glory of the dynasty, and some uncontrollable variables.

The key is……

Louie looks at the pitch, where the players are warming up.

Ewing dunks and the ball falls to Wilson's feet.

Normally, Wilson should have returned the ball to Ewing, but he didn't.

He dribbles the ball away from Ewing and goes outside to shoot.

Ewing didn't feel that there was anything wrong with it, so he stood under the basket and waited for others to shoot.

The two haven't seen each other since the Garden of Eden incident. They clearly dislike each other, but they have to fight side by side.

After being taught a lesson by Louis outside the locker room, Ewing deeply felt that he had many shortcomings and walked on eggshells every day.

He could be the leader of others, but he couldn't get Wilson back.

The only thing he could get from Wilson was lip service.

The relationship between the two has gone from bad to worse since that day.

This is the biggest X factor in the finals.

The Knicks are very likely to be defeated by the incongruity of the core players, but there is also a slight possibility-they will find a common goal in this round of the series, let go of the unbearable past, and come together again.

So far, there's been no sign of a reconciliation between Ewing and Wilson.

But Louie is still naively waiting for a turnaround to happen.

Once it happens, the Knicks will be completely different, and maybe by then, they will really be a dynasty team that completely surpassed the 1984-1987 Celtics.

Before it can happen, Louie needs to steady the team and pull out all the stops to get Riley into trouble.

This is not just the outcome between the Knicks and the Trail Blazers, but also the outcome between Louie and Riley.

Since 1984, the Riley team has played against Louis many times without a single victory.

But in the past failures, Riley can rely on the lineup. It is normal to lose, but it is strange to win.

But this time, the Blazers have all the advantages, and if they lose again, Riley will have no excuses.

Before the opening, NBC commentator Bob Costas and analyst Hubie Brown also discussed the matter.

Regarding the advantages of the two coaches, Louie and Riley.

Brown has a crooked butt, so he should behave well when he encounters this kind of question: "Maybe this question should not be asked, because there is no doubt about the answer. Whether it is record, results or match record, Louie is the one who has the upper hand. Moreover, Coach Riley has only had his second spring by imitating the Knicks. He has always been in Louie's shadow. Maybe we should ask how long it will take for Coach Riley to catch up with Louie."

Costas asked cooperatively, "What's your answer?"

Brown laughed: "Considering their age ... I think Coach Riley may never catch up with Louie."

Brown said that the Knicks fans are happy physically and mentally, and the warm-up at the scene is coming to an end.

When the team assembled, Isaiah Thomas came to Louis specifically to say hello: "Coach Lu, what you did in Boston five years ago, I want to recover everything for Larry and Ralph this time."

"I'd rather believe in the crocodile's tears than that you went to Portland and hugged Mickey's thighs just to help Larry and Ralph get back the debt they owed back then." Louie said heartily.

Thomas's smile disappeared without a trace in an instant, and the hatred for Louis appeared deeply in his eyes.

When Thomas walked back to Riley, Riley just wanted to reprimand him, because he didn't want to see the behavior of the two parties reminiscing about the past.

They are not friends, but incompatible enemies.

However, Thomas' angry expression said it all-Louis helped him finish the job.

"I don't think I need to say anything more to you," Riley said.

Thomas said coldly: "I don't need you to say anything to me."

　Can I explode now?Of course, but if I explode now, when the plot really reaches the stage where it needs to explode, I can only have two chapters a day.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)