The rest is just noise

"Coach Riley believes that this year's finals are just a continuation of last year. Portland is eager for the title, and they hope to take the title away from New York with their own hands."

NBC frontline reporter Hannah Storm tells the camera.

At this time, the starting players of the Knicks and Trail Blazers were already standing on the court.

For the Knicks, the starting lineup remains unchanged.

The Trail Blazers also continue their invincible five-star formation.

During the jump ball stage, Ewing made a great leap and won the opening ball for the Knicks in the Finals.

Stockton dribbled the ball into the frontcourt. Before the Trail Blazers' defensive line was set up, the Knicks' offense spread rapidly.

Wilson sets an off-ball screen for Miller.

Miller ran out from the right wing, caught the ball, and shot from two steps inside the three-point line.

Even if the defense is as tough as Jordan's, there is very little that can be done under this high-quality cover.

Miller scored a jumper and hit a meaningful shot for the Knicks to open the game.

2 to 0

"Michael, we're not that bunch of rotten shrimps you met in the West!" Miller yelled arrogantly, "My shot will fucking blow up all of you!"

For Miller, it's about putting pressure on opponents whenever possible.

He is a lot like Wilson, but unfortunately, he is not the core ace like Wilson.

As an off-ball shooter, someone like Ellis is taciturn, reduces his sense of presence, and only makes people aware of the threat when he gets the ball. This is the best game state.

Of course, this also differs from person to person.

Let Louis choose, he prefers Ellis.

It is undeniable that Miller's doing this will boost his morale and have a positive effect on the team. If the opponent cannot counterattack, he will be constantly suppressed.

The Blazers' response was also very straightforward.

Isiah Thomas dribbled the ball and penetrated Stockton's perimeter defense effortlessly.

Watching him break through Stockton was as easy as if there was no defender in front of him.

Stockton's dirty moves used to deal with floor defenders have no effect due to the obvious talent gap.

Thomas' breakthrough caused the Knicks' defense to shrink, leaving Jordan open on the outside.

The Assassin's ball was passed and the Flyers received the ball at a 45-degree angle from the left wing.

Last year, the Trail Blazers lost to Wilson's three-pointer. This incident seriously stimulated Jordan. Since the Dream Team training, he has been looking to Wilson and Bird to learn from each other's strengths.

After a year of hard work, he regained his past feel and adapted to the latest muscle memory.

Now, the Knicks are giving him a chance just like they did last year.

Jordan's shot was not soft and he hit a hollow three-pointer.

3 to 2

"He's more willing to take three-pointers than he was in the past," Tomjanovich said.

Zhao Yuanzheng said solemnly: "Moreover, it's more accurate."

Last season, Jordan's three-point shooting percentage dropped to 24%, the lowest since 1988.

This season, Jordan's three-point shooting percentage in the regular season has returned to 36%, which is considered a normal level. In the playoffs, it suddenly reached 39.4%, which is considered an excellent threshold above the league average.

And he not only improved his efficiency, but also his shot count.

He has averaged 1.8 three-pointers per game so far in the playoffs. For a player like Jordan, who can average 1.8 three-pointers per game with a 39.4% shooting rate, it can be said that he is already a player with no solutions on the offensive end.

At this time, he made a three-pointer and responded to Miller's trash talk: "Not only will I shoot through your defense, but I will also make you never dare to let me shoot a three-pointer!"

Jordan's aggressive posture doesn't look like what Louis remembers him like.

Jordan is indeed that kind of Hannibal-like style who not only kills his opponent, but also takes out his opponent's heart and eats it, but he doesn't go so far as to show off his teeth and claws from the very beginning.

When he did this, it can only be said that he was holding back a breath of bad breath that was difficult to swallow.

"Mitch's mentality doesn't look healthy."

Louis asked around, "Did something happen?"

Most of Louis' assistant coaches don't care about gossip. The only one who can give a general idea is young trainer Quin Snyder: "MJ has been in and out of the casino frequently recently and was photographed by the paparazzi."

The paparazzi filmed it, the media exposed it, and the New York media exaggerated it again?

It feels like this is basically the process.

In Louis' past life, there was indeed a conspiracy theory that Jordan was privately banned by Stern for two years because of excessive gambling.

The experience of coaching the Dream Team also made Louis understand how addicted Jordan was to gambling.

If Jordan could only keep one of his many hobbies, Louis is really not sure that he would give up gambling for basketball.

"Expedition, you go and find out." Louis said.

Zhao Yuanzheng nodded and quietly left the scene to collect information.

If Jordan's impatience is not temporary, this is the Knicks' opportunity.

Whether it was related to off-court matters or not, Louis didn't want to let this opportunity pass him by.

The Blazers' five-star lineup is completely different from the style of play Riley wants to play.

Riley hopes to play basketball full of confrontation and physical contact like the Knicks. The Knicks are hard-core basketball, and of course he cannot be exactly the same. He calls this style of play football tactics.

However, the Blazers' five-star lineup objectively does not have the ability to play rugby tactics.

Among the Knicks' starting lineup, Stockton, who is the weakest defensively, is at the steals leader level. In the entire starting lineup of the Trail Blazers, the only one who has a balanced defense and has no problems is Jordan. Others like Sabonis (slow) and Nance

(Slowness caused by age) all have weaknesses that can be targeted.

Not to mention the two people who gave away their lives, Barkley and Thomas.

Due to inherent deficiencies, the Blazers' starting and bench playing styles are separated.

Riley didn't want the starters to play too high-intensity games, which also gave their opponents a false impression. They thought the Blazers only had this intensity, but when they came on the bench, they found that the level of the game had suddenly escalated.

The strength of the starting lineup lies in the unsolvable offense caused by the overflow of talent, while the substitutes are purely an improvement in confrontation.

Within two minutes, Miller was blocked by Jordan, Wilson missed a jump shot, the Trail Blazers counterattacked and Kemp chased the shot, and Nance grabbed an offensive rebound and tipped in;

Wilson also hit a mid-range shot;

Barkley violently knocked Wilson away and drove to the basket but was blocked by Ewing. Sabonis grabbed the offensive rebound and made a second attack;

Stockton missed an open three-pointer, and the Knicks, who were continuously grabbed offensive rebounds, took advantage of the inside. Ewing blocked Sabonis and prevented him from taking off, allowing Kemp to grab the offensive rebound and violently dunk.

Riley was dissatisfied with the team's performance.

He felt that the team did not play with the intensity he wanted to see.

Even if their starters are required to control the intensity of the game, he doesn't want to see the Knicks grabbing their offensive rebounds like this.

All of Riley's anger was poured into Sabonis: "Big man, you have to get stuck! Do you understand? You have to get stuck! Damn it, this is what we asked you to do!"

Sabonis was furious after hearing what the translator said: "I'm really stuck!"

Louis watched the play from a distance, like an outsider.

He discovered that these pioneers were not monolithic.

The Knicks have a lot of problems, and so do others.

Looking at Riley's ugly face, why is Sabonis the only one to blame for the blown rebound?

The other starting positions are too big, so he can only use Sabonis to operate, and there is nothing wrong with that.

"Patrick, are you sure you can suppress the Lithuanians?" Louis asked during a pause.

Ewing has competed with Sabonis several times, and these few minutes were enough for him to make a judgment about the opponent: "He is not my opponent."

"Let's be clear about something!"

Louis laid out the tactical board.

"Don't be burdened and take the initiative to bring up the rhythm. Nance and Lithuania can't keep up with our speed, and Barkley will get lost in the fast pace of the game. To put it bluntly, they only have two people who can adapt to the fast pace of the game."

"When there are opportunities for fast-break shots, take bold shots! John, Reggie, Benj, even Patrick and Sean and others, boldly take fast-break shots and wear them down!"

"We have to use this method to make them mistakenly think that our offensive focus is on the periphery, but our real goal is the penalty area. When we fall into a positional battle, everyone's first goal should be the penalty area. Nance is not terrible, Sabonis

Kong has height but is as slow as a turtle. As long as they are afraid of our shots and leave the paint, his help defense threat is limited!"

"And then there's the defense—"

Since Mr. Jordan's mentality is not right, Louis has the obligation to help him correct his mentality.

If his mentality becomes even worse due to excessive strikes, then Louis can only say that he has done his best and it is Mr. Jordan who failed to live up to his expectations.

"From now on, use the 'law' on MJ and never let him take open three-pointers."

After Louis made some arrangements, the referee came to urge them to play.

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