Chapter 18: Back to New York
After the Knicks experienced a wave of three consecutive wins, the mentality was a little relaxed, after coming to Cleveland, the Cavaliers were ashamed, broke through the Knicks' defense in the first quarter, and scored 37 points in a single quarter, which also made the Knicks open a big hole of more than a dozen points, and by the end of the game, the Knicks, who were not good at scoring, were only able to narrow the score difference to 8 points, and the Knicks suffered their first defeat of the season because of their carelessness, and the three games were very good, and they also encountered a bottleneck in this game, playing 27 minutes, He finished with only 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. The www.biquge.infoCavaliers didn't mean to target Mo Xi in this game, but Mo Xi's hand in this game was really bad, and he even lost an unguarded layup, and Mo Xi's not stable mid-range shooting didn't help him much, so it can be said that this is the worst game Mo Xi has played in months.
There is good news for the Knicks, the most painful part of the season has passed, the Knicks won two of the three near-back-to-back Eastern Conference road trips, and since it was the beginning of the season, such a performance cannot be commented on, but now, the Knicks are finally back in New York after a long absence, hosting the Milwaukee Trident. And in this game, the Wuyi Night City Knicks faced the first real strong opponent this season.
"Big Dog" Glenn Robinson, whose personality is as hot as his explosive power in scoring, has been the champion of Kidd and Grant Hill in the previous six seasons, except for last season's shrinking season, all of which scored 20+ points; Ray Allen, one of the best shooters in league history, was the same 96 draft pick as Mo Xi, but at this time, Ray was far from reaching the terrible shooter who would see blood in the future, and now he plays more impactful; Finally, one of the Knicks' rivals, a member of the Rockets' championship team that year, "alien" Sam Cassel, was traded to the Bucks last season, making up for the last shortcoming of the Bucks, and the Bucks have since taken off. Prior to this battle, the Bucks had also won three in a row.
After experiencing the Cavaliers' revenge, the Knicks' attitude is even more determined, coupled with the return to the home court and a lot of publicity from the New York media, this game is imperative for the Knicks. For the defense-oriented Knicks, the Bucks are definitely a-for-tat opponent, not to mention their head coach George Carr, one of the future 1,000-win coaches, who doesn't attack, and would rather die has a similar but not similar style to Nelson. George Karl's most famous fast-break tactics were developed while coaching the Milwaukee "Three Musketeers." For Van Gundy, George Karl's flexible offensive tactics are enough for him to walk on thin ice, plus George Karl's tactics occupy a lot of offense, but it is by no means the type that does not defend, he is very good at using impactful, resilient young players, with a lot of pressing to press opponents for mistakes, whether offensive or defensive, the Bucks are not easy to match.
In the Knicks training gym, Mo Xi rarely appeared on the training ground or in the gym, but came to the video room. In the last game, Mo Xi's performance was really bad, some of which were problems with his own hands, but more of it was a lack of experience. Now Mo Xi can physically gain an advantage in the face of most centers, but he can't turn such an advantage into a victory, even if he has a smart basket foot, but once he turns on the inside tank mode, he loses this killer weapon, and the two Mo Xi seems to only be able to pick up one weapon at a time.
Faced with such a unique rookie wall, neither Ewing nor Johnson could give a good suggestion, and in the end, Dudley made a small suggestion to Murphy, that is, watch the video. Putting yourself in God's perspective, not the player's perspective to watch the whole game, seems to have nothing to do with Mo Xi's problem, but Mo Xi found that he seems to be able to see something from it, when it's time to attack, it's to show off his basket skills, and when he should use his basket skills, it's stupid to fight with people.
Mo Xi has not played a few games in the league in total, and this season has just begun, and after watching a few games, Mo Xi has set his sights on tomorrow's opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the defense-oriented East, the Bucks can be said to be a clear stream in reinforced concrete, but it is strange to say that Mike Dunleavy, who advocates defense, did not make the Bucks' defense better, but it was George Karl, who was bent on promoting offense, that made the Bucks' defense go up a notch, of course, it may also be because George Karl's offensive level is too high, and it seems that the Bucks' defense is very good.
Mo Xi asked the staff for the footage of the Bucks game after George Karl coached. I have to say that this is indeed an excellent coach, while watching the game video, I regretted that he compared him with Knicks coach Van Gundy, and there is still a big gap between the two at the purely technical and tactical level. Although George Karl advocates offense, he will never give up defense, and there is a clear difference between Van Gundy's dull defensive victory, to say that Van Gundy is better than him is that Van Gundy is better at adjusting the center and adjusting the locker room atmosphere, which is the only thing that George Karl has been criticized in his entire coaching career.
Mo Xi noticed that the Bucks' lineup has changed a lot this season, Elvin Johnson (well, that's the name, but not that person) was taken out of the starting position, George Karl replaced three forwards as the frontcourt lineup, Glenn Robinson, Robert Traylor, and JR Reid three forwards make up the Bucks' frontcourt. Now it seems that she doesn't need to tell it anymore, George Carr has done it.
The Bucks' starter was only 6 feet 9 inches, but it was unbelievable that the Bucks won all of them against the league's top interior players, the first game against Olajuwon's partner Charles Barkley's Rockets won, and the second game against Mutombo, who was at the peak, also won, and the three gunmen averaged more than 65 points per game.
Unlike the Knicks, the Bucks' rapid offensive and defensive transitions are mainly reflected in the transition from defense to offense, you can see that the Bucks' players have been running all the time, even Olajuwon and Barkley, who are known for their flexibility, feel a little powerless in front of the Bucks' style of play, no way, the opponent's pace is too fast, and the Bucks' pressing is very fierce, and they are not afraid of fouls or displacement.
Mo Xi felt a chill, this style of play is a grave-like existence for a traditional center like him, there will not be much room for him to play at all, and the Bucks' shooting is very accurate, especially three-point shooting. Mo Xi watched the video, constantly bringing himself into it, thinking about how he would behave if he faced such a situation on the court.
From six o'clock in the evening, until eleven o'clock, Mo Xi has been soaking in the video room, this trip has brought Mo Xi a lot of unexpected gains, he found that training is not only that you complete your physical and technical exercises, but also technical and tactical awareness, and the field judgment, it is good to practice hard with your head down, but you also have to know what kind of opponent you will face.
On November 8, 1999, he will meet a team whose style of play is entirely aimed at the center forward, which will also be the first time he will defend the dignity of the center forward.