Although in Li Wei's eyes, the second strongest team in 98 is the Pacers, but in the hearts of the majority of fans, the second most profound team in their memories must be the Utah Jazz.

With two consecutive Finals and two consecutive defeats to the mighty Bulls dynasty, Malone and Stockton are the uncrowned kings in the hearts of many.

Due to Stockton's injury absence at the beginning of the season, coupled with head coach Jerry Stere's new roster adjustments, the Jazz are now third in the West with a 35-15 record, below the SuperSonics and Lakers, and slightly better than the Spurs at 35-16.

The biggest change for the Jazz this season is that last season's main small forward Bryan Russell and main center Greg Ostertag played most of the time off the bench. To be able to press the two fathers of last season to the bench, Jerry Sloan's courage is no one.

Li Wei knew that Jerry Sloan wanted to speed up the team's offensive and defensive tempo. The Bulls' big center Longlee can shoot and block and open up space on the court, while Ostertag can't even shoot from the midfield, and even when no one is guarded, he can be blocked by the basket, and Sloan is really an eyesore to look at.

In order to make the team's speed brisk, Jerry Sloan prefers to use big forward Greg Foster as a center, and even Adam Keefe, Antoine Kyle, etc., who are 2.06 meters tall and can play even small forwards, as well as Carl Malone, the team's big leader, are often placed in the center position by him!

Don't think that coaches in this era don't understand small balls, although Sloan doesn't like to shoot threes yet, he can play small balls better than anyone else.

But Li Wei also knew that Jerry Sloan's small-ball attempt was a failure.

For example, Adam Keefe, who is 2.06 meters tall, started 75 games in the regular season, and all statistics hit career highs, but when the bayonets were red in the playoffs, he was short and light, and Sloan had to compress his playing time to 10 minutes!

It's still slow, it's a big burden on the offensive end, and Ostertag, who is called "waste wood" by the media, can save the team!

How important is Ostertag to the team?

Let's put it this way, Spencer, the Jazz's main center in '95, was injured, James Donaldson, who was temporarily firefighting, didn't do anything, and Sloan could only use Tom Chambers and other big forwards to play small ball most of the time.

In the first round of the playoffs, as the second in the West, they played the Rockets, who were seventh in the West. Rocket center Olajuwon ate dumplings, and in the first game, he swept the leaves with a strong wind, scoring 45 points on 20-of-30 shooting!

Although the Jazz were lucky to win 102:100 in that game, they were not so lucky in the subsequent games and were finally eliminated by the Rockets Black Seven!

In order to deal with Olajuwon, Jazz management took Ostertag in that year's draft. With this big meat shield, in 96 they fought all the way to the Western Finals, and were finally eliminated by the supersonic speed, which also did not have a strong center!

They made a comeback in '97, this time they didn't meet the SuperSonics, who were eliminated by the Rockets, and their opponents in the second round were the Lakers with O'Neal, and the opponents in the Western Conference Finals were the Rockets with Olajuwon!

There's nothing to say, after putting Ostertag, the Lakers and Rockets were eliminated by the Jazz, and in the end, the Bulls without a strong center defeated them in the Finals!

It's an era when the inside line is king, you can live without a strong center, but you can't do without a strong meat shield that single-handedly defends against someone else's center!

Because the rules do not allow joint defense!

So for Jerry Sloan, Ostertag is a guy he loves and hates. He hated him for being slow, hated him for dragging down the team's offense, hated him for being useless.

But when it comes to the critical moment, it is Ostertag who is the most reassuring. This scrap wood will definitely not be able to prevent O'Neill and Olajuwon, but it can limit them to the greatest extent and consume them, so that the team can win!

Facing the Knicks today, Jerry Sloan remembered the scrap wood he threw on the bench again. Because the Knicks' center Big Z is 2.21 meters tall and has outstanding skills, the short Adam Keefe and Antoine Kyle can't stand it at all, while the other slightly taller power forward, Greg Foster, strained in the game against the SuperSonics after the All-Star break, and can't play today.

"Greg, you're starting today." Sloane Road.

Greg Ostertag's chubby face was very cold, he had always been dissatisfied with Sloan putting him on the bench, and when he saw the big European man opposite him today, he had already estimated that he was going to start.

However, this year is his contract year, and even if he is unhappy, he has to fight for himself and try to get a big contract for himself!

Jazz starters: John Stockton, John Starks, Adam Keefe, Karl Malone, Greg Ostertag.

Knicks starters: Charlie Ward, Alan Houston, Kevin Garnett, Charles Oakley, Zajunas Ilgauskas.

As soon as the game opened, the big Z jumper won against Ostertag on the opposite side, and then the Knicks ran a No. 25 play.

Big Z and Oakley blocked Charlie Ward together, and after Ward went down, Big Z immediately pulled outside the three-point line!

Ostertag did not hesitate to chase the three-point line, and now the league knows that the Knicks' big center can shoot three points, and if he doesn't go out, people will definitely shoot, as for rebounds or something, it's better to hand it over to Carl Malone to guard!

Stockton, for their part, didn't let Ward go. Although Big Z's cover was good, he still tripped the other party with small movements. By the time Ward regained his balance, Stockton's old face was back in front of him.

The first phase of the tactic failed, and then in the second phase, Oakley did the cover, and Alan Houston went directly to the right side from the bottom corner of the left side to the 45 degrees, during which the big Z went down and made a second cover for him!

The Knicks abandoned Starks very nicely bypassed two screens this round, and when Houston ran to the right 45 degrees, Starks was still in front of him!

The first pass was not available, Charlie Ward flipped his wrist and dropped the ball to Garnett, who slipped to the bottom line.

Garnett didn't look at the ball after receiving it, and directly made a back pass and threw the ball to the big Z with just the right tactical run!

Big Z jumped high and was about to dunk, but Ostertag pounced on him from behind and hugged him down!

The referee blows the whistle, Ostertag fouls, and the Knicks make free throws!

Big Z made two free throws and two hits, and the score was 2:0.

The Jazz attacked, and Stockton hoisted the ball 45 degrees on the left side to Karl Malone, who was stuck inside.

Malone hit Oakley with the ball on his back, and Stockton took the opportunity to sneak to the basket!

Charlie Ward chased after Stockton and didn't give him a chance, while Alan Houston suddenly rushed to Malone and carried out a bag on the ball carrier!

Unexpectedly, Malone had long expected that the Knicks would wrap him up, and the moment Houston rushed to him, he had already passed the ball to Starks!

Starks raised his hand and shot, and a precise shot fell into the basket!

2：2！

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