The first round of the playoffs continued, and at the end of the day, another team advanced, and this team was none other than the long-favored Seattle SuperSonics. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The SuperSonics didn't give the Suns another chance in Game 4, and it didn't help for Jazz to cut 26 points and 14 rebounds, as they smashed their opponents on the road to advance and didn't let the Suns drag the game to Game 5.

On the other side, the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets are still inseparable, and every game between these two teams has to drag on until the last minute to decide the winner, and sure enough, it reached Game 5.

The SuperSonics should be happy to see these two teams burn down, which means they will have a physical advantage in the semi-finals.

There are also two teams in the East who are in a fierce battle, the Indian Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks have already been killed, but unfortunately the former star Reggie Miller still did not return in Game 4, and the two teams also played 2-2.

The Lakers don't care how hot these four teams are now, their opponents have already come out, and now what they have to do is to concentrate on studying their opponents and develop a detailed and targeted offensive and defensive strategy as much as possible, especially the first two home courts must be won no matter what method is used.

The whole of Los Angeles knows that as long as they can get a 2-0 start, the chances of advancing to the Western Conference Finals will be more than 70%.

In the Lakers' tactical conference room, there has been no idle time in the past few days, and it is always a busy scene with bright lights.

Harris has been leading the team's coaching staff to do tactical deductions inside, and once everyone thinks of something, they will do a wargame deduction to overturn or improve the tactics and strategies they have in mind, and some coaches don't even go home these days, eating and living in the team.

Behind every win in the playoffs is the work of countless people, and these coaches spend at least seven or eight hours a day here, and the rest of the time they have to take what they discuss to the training court for the players to experiment with, and then come back to discuss improvements.

At this moment, everyone's eyes in the conference room are red, but their spirits are more and more energetic. The two TVs in the room showed footage of the Lakers' victory over the Spurs in the regular season and the Clippers' loss to the Spurs in the playoffs.

These tapes, the Lakers coaches have watched them over and over again, but they don't get bored at all, as if they are watching "Playboy".

But at this time, if there is really a "Playboy" next to it, the people here will only think about how to find the Spurs' life, and then lead the Lakers all the way to the Western Conference Finals and Finals.

So, what kind of team is Spurs this year?

This question is too simple, and there is no need for these coaches to answer it, Zhang Qi can tell everyone.

The Spurs have been winning on the "Admirals" for the past six seasons, they are a single-core team, and they have always been a single-core team.

Before David Robinson arrived at the Spurs and became the cornerstone of the team, the Spurs were a typical underdog team that struggled to make the playoffs for many years, except that they were a strong team in the late '70s when they were led by George Gervin, but their best result at the time was to reach the Western Conference Finals, and only once. Because the Spurs at that time also relied on George Gervin to lead the team, it was also a single-core team, and it couldn't compete with the star-supted Lakers and Celtics.

The people of San Antonio say they can't help it, they're desperate!

It's just a small city with a population of 300,000, which may not be a city in China, but a small town at best.

Therefore, in the case of the team's very limited income, the Spurs can only work hard, live a careful life, and never dare to cross the red line of salary space.

This is also why the Spurs have developed a tradition of not caring whether they play well or not, but only caring about whether they win, which is forced by reality, and practicality is the way to self-improvement of a small city division.

At the same time, because they know that they can't attract big-name stars to join, San Antonio, like Salt Lake City, pays a lot of attention to the draft, and often draws a good lottery to enjoy it for ten years, and if it can't be drawn, it can only be a big bad team to continue to praise character.

The Clippers used a retrenched defense against the Spurs in the first round, and they gathered their forces on the interior in an attempt to make David Robinson difficult, as soon as the "Admiral" got the ball, players would immediately surround him from all directions, even if he moved to the high post, he was still stubborn, and the Clippers hoped to use this kind of encirclement and blocking defense to choke the Spurs' shots.

In short, both the Clippers and the Lakers know that the Spurs have always relied on David Robinson to win, so by overthrowing the "general" who is difficult to support, they will be able to get the key to victory, or at least the hope of winning will be very high.

Harris agrees with this approach, all teams know how to deal with the Spurs, the Clippers failed because their outside defense ability is not enough to execute such a defense, their outside line often retracts and can't get out, but let the Spurs come to a trick and plan, the game is a desire to catch and lead the snake out of the hole, and the Clippers are also swept out!

David Robinson is a super center with a style of play that tends to the outside, he can not only attack and defend, but also has excellent ball control and ball protection ability among interior players, and has a good passing vision, he has an amazing performance of 4.8 assists per game in his peak season, and it is a piece of cake to get three or four assists in a game in the playoffs.

The Spurs' white shooter Vinnie De Nagro scored 20+ in two of the three games in the first round, and the Spurs' three-point shooting rate was close to a terrifying 50%, and the Lakers coaching staff shook their heads when they saw this set of data, which is the worst part of the Clippers and the biggest reason for their failure.

But the Lakers don't have this problem, in the first round they took against the Trail Blazers is to shrink the defense, Zhang Zhu, a cheating dog, with his ghostly footsteps, can not only often kill the opponent's inside line in the restricted area, but also return to his defensive position in time without revealing too many empty positions, I believe that his open-minded mobility will be used in the division semifinals, which will also make the Spurs feel extremely tricky.

In addition, the Lakers not only have a huge defensive range, Michael Finley also has at least seven successes on the defensive end, and the Lakers obviously need the super mobility of these two to defeat the Spurs.

This also makes Cebaros a little embarrassed in the playoffs, Finley's defense is really good in the playoffs, and if he can improve on the offensive end, Cebaros will definitely have no place next season because his defense has been declining.

That's why Harris has always wanted to trade him, and as an experienced NBA head coach, he knows that if a player is about to slip, it will show up first on the defensive end.

Among these examples are not only Cebaros, but even Barkley's defense is declining this season, and even Olajuwon's defense is not as dominant as the previous two seasons, but Jordan's defense is still strong, and that's where the helper is great.

Zhang Wei felt that the team's defense was very targeted in training, because it was simply for him, and he had to have more tasks for each defensive drill, and by the time the Hawks defeated the Pacers on Saturday and successfully advanced, he was already a little unbearable, which was simply to treat him as a coolie.

Harris wants him to block a third of the court, simply put, when he's on the left, he's going to look for opportunities to wrap up the ball whenever the opponent's basketball gets to this side.

Attention, this is not for him to wrap David Robinson, but for him to wrap up basketball, which means that anyone in the Spurs has to intercept this large defensive area that he is responsible for, which really doesn't hurt his physical strength at all!

Michael Finley's task is similar to his, the two of them will usually be on the left and right ends of the court, and the Lakers' defensive strategy is to gather forces in the middle, not allowing the basketball to move easily in the middle, forcing them to use their two defensive knives.

The Lakers' two interior players, plus Van Exel's win in the middle, the three of them are responsible for defending the entire center, and the Spurs will meet three defenders here, which will certainly not be pleased.

In fact, this kind of defense is to hand over the pressure to their two best defensive perimeters, Zhang Zhu and Finley will be on one side, and they will definitely not get much support, which is a bit of a means that they will be left to fend for themselves.

The Lakers set up like this, once the Spurs found that there were many people in the middle, they would naturally attack on both sides, and then it was up to Zhang and Finley to withstand the pressure.

Harris also considered that although Finley's defense is good, it is still a little worse than Zhang Zhu, so most of the limited support in the middle will be given to Finley's side, and Zhang Zhu will basically not get any assistance.

If the Spurs choose to focus their firepower on his side, the pressure on Zhang Mao will be greater than ever.

And he can now imagine that the Spurs will inevitably do this, because they will definitely choose to attack in the direction where the defense is weakest, which is to play his rhythm.

"Those who play with people, people always play", Zhang Yu thinks that this may be the retribution for him playing Brother Tom, but if you ask "who dares to cross the knife immediately", of course, it is "only my koala baby". Although Zhang Qi is slandered in his heart, the heavier the responsibility, the higher his pride...... There are gods, isn't it just one to fight two, and occasionally one to fight three...... This is just the opportunity to give him the opportunity to show his full strength, and he can show the heroism that he can't do!

Harris is very pleased with Zhang Fu's behavior without complaints, he doesn't care what Zhang Fu complains in his heart, he only knows that Zhang Fu, the core of the team, is willing to take responsibility and lead by example.

Take a look, the dream of a serious rich second generation, a handsome man, a leader of young players, and a dream of 2 billion women around the world...... When the team needs it, it can be like a brick, willing to work more than one person, and without complaints...... So the question is, who of the other players would dare to relax? The Lakers' defense will definitely take it to the next level, and that's the role of a leader.

No matter in any field, once a team or collective is formed, this is the case, there is a Chinese proverb that sums it up very incisively, the so-called "the train runs fast, it all depends on the headband", look at what the beggar gang will be weak after Qiao Feng leaves, the god of war Yue Fei can lead the weak Song soldiers to be invincible by his personal leadership ability, and there are Xiang Yu, Han Xin and so on......

Therefore, if a team has a real leader player, even if the team he leads is not strong, he can still play a strength that people dare not take lightly.

Zhang Fu is willing to take on such a heavy responsibility at the moment, because he knows that his exemplary role will be infinitely amplified in the playoffs, although he will work harder, but as long as the Lakers can go further under his leadership, the popularity, fame, and fans he has gained afterwards will be proportional to the return.

He himself said, "If you want to be a hero, you must have a dream", but this is only the first half, and the more important second half is, "Only by suffering hardship can you become a superior person", but he only taught others to have dreams, and did not tell others to endure hardships and how to endure hardships.

On Sunday, the league's last qualifying team also showed up — the Utah Jazz were still on top, and the duo used their more perverted consistency to defeat the equally spicy Rockets.

But this can only be blamed on Houston's second elder who fell off the chain, Drexler's sluggish performance in the playoffs this year, coupled with Kenny Smith, who also declined too fast, and Kassel, who was completely abused by Stockton in the playoffs, the three important support points in the Rockets broke off on their own, and Da Meng alone certainly couldn't beat the "postman" who went to work every day.

As a result, the eight teams that advance to the second round are: Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, and Utah Jazz.

1996 Playoffs Second Round Matchups:

Western Conference Semifinals: (0) SuperSonics vs. Jazz (0); (0) Lakers vs Spurs (0).

Eastern Conference Semifinals: (0) Bulls vs Knicks (0); (0) Magic VS Eagles (0).

The league announced its full schedule less than an hour after the defending champions were eliminated.

May 5, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs - Great Western Forum Arena, PM, 20:30.

May 7, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs - Great Western Forum Arena, PM, 21:00.

May 10, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs - Alamo Dome, PM, 20:30.

May 12, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs - Alamo Dome, PM, 20:00.

On May 15, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs - Alamo Dome, TBD.

On May 17, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs - Great Western Forum Arena, TBD.

On May 19, Los Angeles Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs - Great Western Forum Arena, TBD.

After the schedule was announced, Zhang Fu took time to do a half-hour interview with the CCTV film crew.

The impact of this year's playoffs in China far exceeded his estimates, and even CCTV didn't expect the ratings to be so hot, and the Lakers' game actually had the taste of thousands of empty alleys when Huo Yuanjia and Condor were broadcast back then.

The impact caused by Zhang Fu in China at the moment is much stronger than the broadcast of the Bulls game video in previous years.

Of course, there is a reason here, not to mention Zhang Mao's ball skills and idol temperament, nor to mention national sentiment and other reasons, just the advantage that everyone doesn't have to stay up late to watch the game, so that many football fans look at basketball that they don't know much about.

There's no way, you have to get up at three or four o'clock in the middle of the night to watch European football, fans don't want to go to bed early or get up early, it's a big trouble to watch football, and I can't stand it all the time.

Looking at the NBA game time, Chinese football fans are in tears because the Lakers' home games are at eight or nine o'clock in the evening local time in the United States, and even the away game will be arranged by the league in a time period that can be compatible with China.

Basically, all Lakers games are played between 8 and 10 a.m. in China, and fans don't have to stay up late to watch the game, which has become the biggest advantage of basketball and the NBA's rapid promotion in China.

After the schedule of the Lakers and Spurs came out, the major media did not report much on the two teams, because in the semifinals, the Lakers and Bulls were scheduled to play on the same day, which made most of the media focus on Chicago, and the excitement in Los Angeles was not much stronger than in the first round.

This can't be helped, although the Lakers are traditional giants, the most popular teams and players at present are still the Bulls and Jordan, not to mention that this round is a collision between Chicago and New York, and the competition between these two teams is more gimmick and weight than the duel between Los Angeles and small cities.

The Lakers don't get the most attention, and the Spurs are even more neglected.

They arrived in Los Angeles early as the 3rd, but there were only sporadic media reports on their trip, and many Lakers fans didn't even know when the Spurs would arrive in Los Angeles.

This is also no way, no matter how the Lakers are, they are also a giant team in big cities, and they are the second most popular and influential team after the Bulls this year, although they have been robbed of a lot of heat by the Bulls, but they don't know how high they are compared to the Spurs.

The Lakers naturally knew that the Spurs had come to Los Angeles ahead of schedule, and Harris told reporters after the schedule was released: "The Spurs have many excellent shooters, and Bobby Hill can arrange off-ball coverage on other players when Robinson is trapped, or even a secondary cover without the ball, so as to create open shooting opportunities, which is also what they are good at." ”

Harris is not nonsense, since the Spurs have always been a single-core, at most a supergiant + a quasi-All-Star combination, they are naturally afraid that their core will be overwhelmed by the opponent's crowd tactics, so they have always been very good at off-ball cover tactics, and are very willing to arrange complex running routes and off-ball tactics for ordinary players, because they must fully tap the potential and ability of these role players, otherwise it will be difficult for the Spurs to beat those big city teams with a lot of soldiers.

The Lakers are this kind of team with a lot of soldiers, and since they moved to Los Angeles, they have been strong, but because there are more people available, they lack the tactics of role players, because they only play stars, and there is no need to arrange tactics for Zhang San and Li Si.

The Spurs intend to seek a breakthrough from this point, they are not going to deliberately defend Zhang Mao's breakthrough this time, anyway, no matter how much they prepare, they probably can't prevent it, so it is better to limit Zhang Mao's passing path after breaking through, especially after he breaks through to the vicinity of the restricted area, the Spurs' players must shrink to surround Zhang Qiu, block all the passing routes, delay the Lakers' offensive rhythm, and disrupt their usual offensive methods.

It's a bit like the Pistons defending Jordan back then, and Bobby Hill can even tolerate Zhang Qi scoring under the basket or being passed to a non-threatening position by him, but he must not let him brush up high assists as easily as he did in the regular season, and they must disrupt the Lakers' offensive rhythm.

Although, even if you do this, you won't necessarily win, but if you don't, you won't have a chance at all, and Spurs will have to put themselves in a lower position.

Bob Hill knows too well in his heart that once Zhang Qi plays an all-round performance, it will be terrifying!

He has never seen such an all-round player as Zhang Mao, and even if the Spurs let him play 40 points + 10 rebounds, they will never let him play a triple-double.

Zhang Yu got a triple-double, the probability of the Lakers losing is too low, his triple-double is much more terrible than the triple-double of Big O, that represents a ninety percent winning rate!

Interestingly, Barkley took his white wife to Los Angeles for a vacation.

After this big ass was eliminated by the supersonics, he was theoretically already a semi-free body, and he was eligible to jump out of the contract after July 1, and the Suns already knew that they couldn't keep this big ass, and there was no need to force it to stay.

Barkley is 33 years old this year, which is a veteran with little retained value in the eighties and nineties when players rarely exceed 30 years old at their peak, even if he can play at a supergiant level next season, but he can plummet at any time, especially for his embarrassing height, once it falls too terrible.

The Suns' best plan now is to find a way to keep Barkley for another year, because that will most likely be the last year he still has superstar level, which can squeeze the last bit of value out of him.

The problem is that Barkley is not stupid, he must find a way to take the initiative to find a strong team to join when he still has residual heat, and then mix a big contract of three or four years, preferably to win a championship, or even a dynasty, and then retire with a good smile.

Therefore, after a compromise between the two sides, it is a matter of eight or nine to find a team to sign first and then exchange.

The Magician and Zhang were already on the phone with Barkley, and although the latter declined the invitation to stay at the couple's house, the three of them got together and had a meal at the Magic's house the day before the game.

What level is Barkley now, Zhang Wei thinks he was half a supergiant last season, because he can no longer maintain his supergiant level continuously, and can only play at his peak every three or five times, and then maintain an All-Star level in most games.

There is no way, Barkley has a lot of old injuries, and if the 33-year-old still does his best every game like he did when he was young, it is estimated that he will already be reimbursed for the season, and his recovery can no longer keep up with the desperate consumption of every game.

Magic's actually the same, this season he often looks for opportunities to paddle, otherwise the more tired his body is, the higher it is, and it is easy to explode, and then it will be a tragedy.

This season, three of the four major centers, including Malone, Barkley, and even veterans such as Jordan, are in such a state, and everyone will adjust the rhythm, not every outbreak, but a phased outbreak.

The NBA has entered a period of renewal in recent years, and these players who have aged or are about to age have strengthened their maintenance, hoping to play for a few more years. After all, the past few years have also been an era of skyrocketing NBA wages, and they also want to eat a wave of last benefits.

Zhang Mao welcomes a veteran like Barkley, anyway, he is the main force who really resists the team, and his vitality is like a hanging, and he just needs this kind of guy who can play superstar level every once in a while. On top of that, the experience of these old guys is also the best tonic in the playoffs, and they complement each other perfectly.

Barkley also knew that there was no conflict between him and Zhang Qiu, and if this little guy had rushed forward with a bag of explosives to keep out the wind and rain, there would be much less pressure on him. And Zhang Zhu and Magic are both stars who are good at passing and organizing, he can do it by the side of the two, and he can easily mix up to an average of about 20+8 data per game after playing seriously for 20 minutes in a game, and then pick some tough battles and important games to break out depending on the situation, and maybe he can really win one or two championships at the end of his career.

This time, the two also revealed to Barkley that they were in secret contact with Mutombo, which almost told him that this matter was not far from ten.

They didn't lie to Barkley, Mutombo was a real free agent, and people could go wherever they wanted, so they came to Los Angeles with their families after the regular season, and stayed at the Magic's house for a few days.

This matter has also been reported in the media, and the African Mountains will be looking for a house in several high-end residential areas in Los Angeles, which is obviously a gesture of not going to the Lakers, just waiting for July to sign the tens of millions of contracts that the Lakers have prepared for him.

Barkley is more optimistic about this team after knowing that the Lakers are about to poach Mutombo, and with Mutombo in the restricted area, he can even reduce the task of defense a lot, which is really beautiful.

Zhang Zhu and Magic didn't want to tell him about it so early, but if you want to grab this big ass from the Rockets and Spurs and other teams, you still have to draw him a bigger and more delicious pie, and the combination of Zhang Zhu + Magic + Mutombo + Barkley is a delicious flatbread of giant horses.

Barkley is now a little crippled by the duo, originally he didn't want to say where he would go so quickly, and he didn't even plan to go to the first two games of the Lakers, so as not to appear to be too proactive, so it would be difficult to ask for a price.

As for his first visit to Los Angeles, he just wanted to tell everyone that he was most optimistic about this team for the time being, but he had no intention of deliberately whetting the appetite of other teams.

But after eating a piece of flatbread made by Zhang Yu and Magic, Barkley took the tickets for the first two games of the Lakers in a trance, and changed his mind to take his white wife to watch the game.

This is enough to prove that he is likely to have made up his mind to go to the Lakers in his heart, after all, this cake is really fucking delicious!

The Lakers now have this lineup, the main framework remains the same, and then after adding him and Mutombo, in terms of strength on paper, this is not inferior to the Bulls, and they are definitely qualified to compete with the Bulls for the championship.

So before the first game of the semifinals between the Lakers and the Spurs, when the reporter found Barkley watching the game in the front row, this big ass naturally couldn't escape the interview, who let him and his wife sit next to the Lakers' bench, next to Jerry West and Jenny Buss, the two Lakers executives.

Anyone who sees this scene, if Barkley still explains that he and the Lakers have not reached any private agreement, they are innocent, and it is estimated that they will be considered to be talking nonsense with their eyes open.

You move a few more positions to the side, sit directly next to the Magic, and enter the Lakers bench, and you dare to say that you are not going to the Lakers, who believes this!

Barkley also knew that he had been tricked, but since he had decided to go to the Lakers in his heart, he simply didn't care so much, and in an interview before the game, the big ass said directly: "The first two games are very important for the Lakers, and if they win the first two games, the Spurs will inevitably be eliminated; If one game is lost, especially the first one, the Lakers' self-confidence will inevitably be frustrated, and they are likely to be left behind by the old Spurs. ”

Zhang Qi is ready to play at the moment, and as Barkley said, the first two games, especially the first game, are too important for the Lakers.

If it is still a five-to-five situation, as long as the Lakers win the first game, their probability of advancing will rise to 60%; If you win the second game, the probability will rise to 80%.

So the Spurs must be killed in the "Great Western Forum Arena" today, otherwise the team will stop in the second round, Barkley may not come to the Lakers with an iron heart, and even the Magic may retire again, it will really be a heaven, a hellish result.