the rest, only noise

Chapter 993 A Man Beyond The Times
Chapter One Thousand and One A Man Beyond the Times

"As far as the first half is concerned, we played badly." Pat Riley said dissatisfiedly, "If we want to be like the Knicks in 1988, we shouldn't play like this."

Riley has never admitted that he is a fan of Louie, but since he left the Lakers, he must follow Louis no matter what he does.

He's probably done more research on the 1988 Knicks than anyone else in the industry.

"So, how do you break down the Knicks' steel defense in the second half?"

"With a next-level offense, with an unstoppable offense, with the most unstoppable offense in the history of professional basketball."

Riley said firmly.

As for the Knicks, Louis appeared flat and calm during the interview.

For him, the lead before half-time was a matter of course, they played so well tonight.

"Coach Lu, what do you think of the rumors about the Knicks?"

"No, every piece of news, every piece of gossip." Louis responded with a smile on his face, "It's all true."

The reporter knew he was joking, and knew that Louie wasn't afraid to be taken aback, but responding to those rumors in this way was really different.

"So, for tonight's game...?"

"I have nothing to say," Louie said confidently. "You just need to know that we're going to win."

"Who do you think was the MVP of the first half?"

"There is no doubt that it is Benj." Louie said without thinking, "He scored the highest points in the game and played the best defense. Few players can dominate the game on both offense and defense like him in the Finals."

When Louie walked into the tunnel, he met Ewing.

Ewing has grown fond of returning to the locker room with Louie lately.

"Just now the reporter asked me who was the MVP of the first half." Louie said intentionally, "I told him it was Benj."

Ewing didn't respond: "It was him."

Ewing used to compete with Wilson for everything, including this so-called first-half MVP.

Louie had stopped him and scolded him, but nothing changed his course.

Later, Louis no longer stopped him, because he believed that the competition between Ewing and Wilson would increase the competitiveness of the Knicks, and the side effect was that the rift and contradiction between the two would become bigger and bigger.

Louie used to see Ewing's competitiveness as a sign of his low EQ. He wasn't a selfish player, and he never wanted to take all the credit for himself.

Why did Ewing act and react so differently to Wilson?
It's a question that has plagued Louie for several years, and it wasn't until recently that he found the answer.

Because of Louis, he is the root.

Benj was his baby, Ewing wasn't.

Because the two people have different temperaments and personalities, and even have different views on Louis, Louis's "double standard" coaching with the concept of teaching students according to their aptitude indirectly brought a lot of sense of crisis to Ewing and the desire to seek approval.

It can be said that this is Louis' fault.

He regarded Ewing as Bird, but he was not Bird.

Louis and Byrd are like bad friends, they can call each other's mother, but Ewing dare not call Louis' mother, even though he is only 2 years younger than Louis, in his subconscious, Louis is more like a harsh elder, he will laugh at Louis' stomach, but he never dares to have the following actions and thoughts.

Ewing now sees the nature of his relationship with Wilson.

So he no longer has that kind of jealousy, and he also found that the contradictions in the Knicks were precarious, and he wanted to stop that momentum, so he had to become more mature.

"It's rare for you to think so." Louis smiled, "Don't you think he shot too much?"

Ewing didn't deny it, "It's a bit too much, but considering that he feels so good, it's not unacceptable to take a few more shots."

The current Ewing made Louis think of a group.

There is a group of people on the Internet who love Beagles but don't want to take on the burden of keeping a dog, and Beagles are notoriously weight-training dogs for their owners.So, whenever they see the owner of the beagle dog on the Internet, and the owner expresses helplessness, they will collectively get sick in the message area: "Messi! Messi!" (Useless stuff)
Now, Louis also wants to call Messi to Ewing.

He thinks that Wilson is the same as before, and Louis knows that Wilson's current style of play is wrong, even if he has laid an advantage for the team.

Americans all recognize a truth, don't change your shoes until they are broken.

Ewing wouldn't make a move until Wilson's slanted performance put the Knicks in danger.

Louis still can't get used to Ewing now.

The contrast between him and the past is as great as Sai Koizumi and Yulia Satomi.

"Ok."

Louis didn't say much, and now is not the time to talk about it.

Since he chose to believe in Ewing, he had to believe to the end, even though this orangutan did not look trustworthy anyway.

They went back to the locker room together.

Louis made corresponding arrangements for the second half. Although the Knicks were in the lead, the Blazers would not sit still.

In the first half, the Knicks restricted the Blazers' offense by relying on the targeted defense of the key players, with the purpose of flanking in the middle and violently protecting the basket in the penalty area.

Riley tried to strangle Knicks with the Verdun line of defense, but was forced to dismantle by Louis with a not-so-complete murder.

"First, the starters in the second half—Benj, you play number one." Louie continued, "Alex, Dennis, Sean, Patrick."

The lineup Louie chose clearly shows what the Knicks are going to do.

Defensively, of course.

Moreover, the most valuable thing about these five players is that they are all tall and have long arms and excellent mobility. Even if three players are used to pinch someone on the opponent, as long as the opponent passes the ball, they can complete the rotation and make up defense with their athletic ability.

The Knicks' style of play is afraid of missing three points.

However, the Blazers happen to be short of three-pointers, and players with three-point threats are basically just catchers and shooters in specific areas.

For example, Thomas, although he has practiced a three-pointer at the top of the arc, leaving this position is not a big threat.

The same is true for Sabonis, who is also a fan of the top three-pointer.

In addition to these two, the Blazers can also shoot three-pointers including Jordan, Barkley, Clifford Robinson, and Kexi, but Jordan is the key figure on the Knicks' defensive end. Barkley can indeed shoot three-pointers from all angles, but his shooting percentage is only in the early 30s. Robinson and Kexi are both substitutes.

As long as the Blazers can't catch the three-point opportunities that the Knicks missed for them, the Knicks' defense will be impenetrable for them and difficult to break through.

In the second half, Riley still maintained the five-star team as the starter.

This theoretically strongest offensive lineup will never be able to exert its full strength.

Facing the Knicks' steel defense like a moving Great Wall, the Blazers failed to score for three consecutive rounds.

On the other hand, the Knicks seized the opportunity of defensive counterattack and scored 4 points successively.

The point difference was stretched to 18 points. Riley couldn't sit still and called a timeout.

In the commentary booth of NBC, Hubie Brown predicted: "This timeout is crucial. The Blazers have come to the edge of the cliff. If they can't play an effective counterattack after this timeout, then I can announce that the Knicks will win back their home court advantage tonight."

And Riley deserves to be a loyal fan of Louis. He directly replaced Thomas, who was limited by his body size and touch, and Nance, who was weak on the offensive end, and Nance, who was blown up by Kemp.

The few players he replaced were exactly the two Cauchy and Robinson in Louie's mind who could solve the current predicament of the Blazers.

Seeing Riley's response, Louis understood that today's Riley is also out of the times.

Because Louis' ideas are beyond the times, if you are bound by contemporary ideas, you will not be able to keep up with his rhythm.

Riley caught up with Louie and found a way to respond in Louie's coaching system.

His approach is to imitate.

Louie played point guard with Wilson, and Riley played point guard with Jordan.

Louis put Stevens at the [-]nd position, who was like a small forward in both static and dynamic conditions. Riley put a balanced offensive and defensive wing Cosey at the [-]nd position.

Suffice to say, from a physical standpoint, the Knicks and Blazers put their five most athletic players on the court.

This is Riley's key move tonight. If it doesn't work, the Knicks will win the game. Otherwise, they will still have to play.

(End of this chapter)