On the evening of April 23, the Knicks' first playoff game, they will host the Bucks, who are eighth in the East, at Madison Square Garden.

Li Wei was informed in advance by David Stern that he was indeed selected as the most improved player of the season!

"It's a surprise, I never thought I'd win this award!" Li Wei sighed.

David Stern smiled: "I was also surprised that the wind of the media suddenly changed at the end of the season, and it was a pity for Jalen Rose to select you." ”

Madison Square Garden is just a few blocks away from the NBA's headquarters, so in the evening, the trophies are delivered.

Before the start of the playoffs, the team held an award ceremony, and Li Wei received the Most Improved Player trophy and held it high!

This is the second NBA award of the year that Li Wei has won, and the first time he won the annual award was last year, when he won the Kennedy Citizen Award.

When the fans in New York saw Li Wei win the award, they cheered together, and the momentum was shocking!

Li Weidao: "Thank you to the league, thank you to my coaching staff and teammates, thank you to every Knicks fan on the scene or in front of the TV, thank you, I love you!"

It was a real surprise to win this award, two years ago, when I was a rookie, I wanted to win the Rookie of the Year award, but unfortunately the judges preferred Duncan, and now the Most Improved Player award goes to me, and I personally think that I am at the top of my life. ”

The fans burst into laughter.

Li Wei spoke a few more words before stepping off the stage, and after a while, the game began.

First up was the visiting Bucks' starting five.

Point guard alien Sam Cassel, who is 1.91 meters tall and weighs 84 kilograms, averages 18.6 points and 9 assists per game this season, second only to the league's assist king Kidd, which is very dazzling.

Scoring guard Ray Allen, the No. 5 talent of the 96 golden generation, is 1.96 meters tall and weighs 93 kilograms, although he unfortunately failed to be selected as an All-Star, but in the second half of the season, his performance got better and better, and finally averaged 22 points per game, surpassing Robinson, the big dog, and became the scoring champion of the Bucks.

Small forward big dog Glenn Robinson, 94 years of genius, 2.01 meters tall, 102 kilograms, this year's All-Star, but the second half of the season was slightly worse than Allen, and finally averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game.

Small forward Darvin Hamm, yes, is another small forward.

In the past, in the SuperSonics, George Karl had Sean Kemp in his hands first, and then Vin Baker, and the technology was very comprehensive, but after coming to the Bucks, the team's internal line was weak, and Robert Traylor, the big tractor that the management worked hard to trade, was not suitable for Carl's blitzkrieg system at all, and was finally abandoned.

George Carr simply broke the jar and broke it, and directly put two small forwards, no need for big forwards!

In fact, the Bucks' style of play is somewhat similar to that of the Knicks, both of which are double-small former genres, one big with four small.

However, the Knicks have Garnett, a freak on the team, who is a "small forward" when attacking, but can be a big forward on the defensive end, and does not suffer when defending a pure power forward!

The Bucks don't have this kind of talent, whether it's Glenn Robinson or Darvin Ham, they struggle to defend the opposite big front, so they also rank among the top in the league in points conceded per game, and can only rely on sharper offense to make up for it!

Darvin Hamm is 2.01 meters tall and weighs 100 kilograms, he was undrafted in 96, his physical fitness is very strong, and he participated in the slam dunk contest, but unfortunately failed to win the championship.

However, Hamm's shooting, dribbling, breakthrough and other abilities are not up to par, scoring basically relies on slam dunks, and he is too short and underweight to be a meat shield on the inside, so no team is optimistic about him.

George Karl put Darvin Ham in the starting lineup, fancy him is fast, can play fast break, can bomb the basket, and on the defensive end, although Ham is not tall, but he is physically strong, and can top two with the opposite tank!

Darwin Hamm's top defense is certainly not as effective as a real meat shield, but if you want to play fast, you have to make a trade-off.

The center of the Bucks is Elvin Johnson, the 93 first-round pick with the same name as Magic Johnson, who is 2.11 meters tall and weighs 111 kilograms.

After the Bucks debuted, the Knicks' starting five Tigers also appeared, and they were Nash, Houston, Maddy, Garnett, and Da Yao.

George Carr, a generation of famous coaches, saw Garnett, and his eyes lit up.

He was so envious of Li Wei that he could have such a strong general in his hands. If Garnett is in the Bucks, Carl is also confident of winning 63!

No, if he has Garnett, the goal is not even 63 wins, he even dares to compete with the Lakers!

Unfortunately, Garnett is the Knicks' and Karl can only put undrafted Darvin Ham in the starting lineup. Looking at Garnett's height, shooting ability, rebounding ability, and then looking at Hamm's ability, Carl can only look up to the sky and sigh!

Why, why wasn't I the one who coached the genius!

Although the Bucks are only eighth, Li Wei did not take the opponent lightly.

In the previous season, the Pacers were first in the East and made it all the way to the Finals. Aside from the Finals, the toughest game the Pacers played was the first round against the Bucks!

In the first two games, the two teams fought to a 2:2 draw, and Reggie Miller scored 41 points in the life-and-death battle, but he still couldn't stop the other party!

Fortunately, this game is the home court of the Pacers, with the blessing of the home whistle, and fortunately, Pacers guard Travis Best hit a key three-point shot at the last moment, and in the end, they narrowly defeated the Bucks 96-95 and advanced to the second round!

The Pacers are too risky to win, and if it's a little worse, it will turn into another Black Eight incident!

In the following 00-01 season, the Bucks, who had three musketeers, were even more unstoppable, finishing second in the East in the regular season, second only to the 76ers. The Eastern Conference Finals also lost to the 76ers with a score of 4:3, and almost reached the Finals.

"The Bucks are very strong, none of us can underestimate them, otherwise, they will definitely take the win on our home court!" Li Weidao.

The Knicks will naturally respond.

Midfield jumps, Da Yao wins against El Van Johnson on the opposite side!

Nash organized the attack, Da Yao pulled Elvin Johnson out, and then Garnett cut through the air and scored the ball on Darvin Hamm's head!

0：2！

Compared with the Spurs, Lakers and other teams, the Knicks are not strong inside, but compared to the Bucks, the Knicks' interior line is simply terrifyingly strong!

In the face of such an opponent, Li Wei's tactic is, of course, to play more inside, take advantage of the Knicks' long line and have a more success rate!

Just as the media said in this era, those who have an inside line win the world!

George Carr frowned when he saw Garnett score, but there was nothing he could do.

Darwin Hamm can't stop Garnett, but can someone else stop it?

Apparently not!

The Bucks don't have a guy with both height and speed, and if you replace a big man who doesn't suffer from height, but is slow, Garnett will definitely be more comfortable if he plays slow with fast!

In contrast, when Garnett runs, Darwin Hamm can at least keep up, and when the opponent fights positional warfare, Hamm can also withstand it, as for being beaten short by being tall and working high on his head, it can only be resigned to fate.

In fact, the Bucks never compete with their opponents on defense, they want to compete on offense!

It doesn't matter if you can't stop the Knicks, just open the offensive end!