In 1988, Seattle's computer magnate Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, bought the Trail Blazers, and shortly thereafter, Rick Adelman was appointed coach of the team, and the team's management traded in Buck Williams, and the team immediately changed qualitatively every year.

In the early '90s, they were one of the league's top teams, reaching the Finals twice, but lost to Chuck Daley's Pistons and Phil Jackson's Bulls.

Adelman was fired in '94, Dragxler went to the Rockets in '95 to pursue a championship, and Buck Williams came to the New York Knicks in '96 to retire, and the current Trail Blazers are no longer the Trail Blazers they were back then.

However, because the owner is willing to spend money, and the team manager has also tried every means to trade capable players, they are still one of the strongest teams in the West.

The Trail Blazers' starting center, Sabonis, is Europe's most legendary center. In 1982, at the age of 18, he defeated the United States team with the Soviet men's basketball team and won the gold medal in the World Championships. Even more terrifying was the fact that from 1985 to 1987, he led his hometown Kaunas to three consecutive league titles.

At that time, the Soviet Union, the powerful Moscow Central Army Army, like our Bayi team back then, was a giant, but Sabonis was stunned to lead his hometown team to defeat it again and again!

In the 1985 draft, the Eagles selected Sabonis. But Sabonis did not sign up for the draft at all, and the United States and the Soviet Union were in a cold war, so it was impossible for him to sign up.

According to the rules of the NBA draft, international players who did not sign up for the draft can only be selected if they turn 22 at the end of the year, and Sabonis in 1985 was only 21 years old, so the league ruled that the Hawks' draft was invalid.

In the 1986 draft, the Trail Blazers selected Sabonis again. Although the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was going on at the time, and selecting him was almost a blank pick, Sabonis could not have risked treason to come to the United States to play, and the Trail Blazers still gambled with this draft pick.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it is 1995.

Eastern Europe has changed dramatically, the Soviet Union has collapsed, the Cold War mentality no longer dominates the world, and the Trail Blazers have waited for the great center they have been waiting for for nearly a decade!

It's a pity that the current Sabonis is no longer the all-powerful Sabonis of the past.

At the age of thirty, he has experienced a lot of knee and Achilles tendon injuries, and he is as slow as a snail!

The American media didn't look down on the old guy at all, and the Trail Blazers themselves weren't optimistic about it, and they played him off the bench for most of the first year.

The aging Sabonis is still outstanding on the bench, scoring 14 points and 8 rebounds in his first season!

Now, this old guy is one of the tactical cores of the Trail Blazers, averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per game!

It is worth mentioning that Sabonis is Lithuanian, and the Knicks' main center, Big Z, is also Lithuanian. (Lithuania was one of the 15 countries that split into the Soviet Union.) ）

If Sabonis represents the glorious past of Lithuanian basketball, then the big Z is the hopeful tomorrow of Lithuanian basketball.

So one of the highlights of this game is the confrontation between the new and old generations of powerful center forwards in Lithuania, whether it is the back waves of the Yangtze River pushing the front waves, the new generation beating the old people, or the ginger is still the old spicy!

The Trail Blazers' main power forward this season is the No. 4 pick in '95, roaring at Rashid Wallace. In addition, the Trail Blazers' point guard position is the No. 7 pick in '95 that they just traded, and Damon Stoudemire, the best rookie of that year!

As we all know, Li Wei spared no expense last summer and exchanged Ewing for the No. 5 pick Kevin Garnett in '95, which was supposed to be the pinnacle matchup of the '95 generation, but unfortunately Rashid Wallace was absent due to injury, resulting in such a highlight disappearing.

Replacing Rasheed Wallace is the genius high school student Jermaine O'Neal of the 96 Golden Generation, who is known to everyone in later generations.

On February 15, O'Neal Jr. made his first start against the league's penultimate Nuggets when the Trail Blazers faced the Nuggets, who were bent on defeat, and scored 21 points and 9 rebounds.

On February 17, O'Neal Jr. started for the second time, facing the Warriors, who were ranked second to last in the league at the time, and continued to dare to fight, scoring 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Trail Blazers fans were stunned again.

On February 18, the Trail Blazers challenged the league leader SuperSonics away, and O'Neal Jr. scored 14 points and 13 rebounds, but unfortunately the team lost. Trail Blazers fans hope that O'Neal Jr. can continue to surprise everyone in this game against the Knicks.

Today is O'Neal Jr.'s fourth career start. Li Wei attaches great importance to O'Neal Jr., and told Oakley several times, telling him not to think that the other party is a rookie and underestimate it.

Oakley's face was full of disbelief, and he didn't listen to Li Wei's words at all. He believes he needs to focus on helping defend Sabonis, not some bullshit.

"It's just a rookie, and he has to cry if I use 30% of my strength. Do you really think that we are a bad team like the Nuggets and the Warriors, and we can use him to brush up on points and rebounds? ”

Li Wei shrugged, unable to talk to Oaklido. Such an old player has his own preconceived notions about many things, and you can treat him as an old man who sells old people.

In fact, in the NBA, Li Wei is already a very authoritative head coach, because everyone in the team knows that he is actually the boss behind the scenes. The coaches of other teams speak, and the big names don't like to listen to it.

Rasheed Wallace is out due to injury, Damon Stoudemire has just been traded, has only played two games, and is not familiar with the team's system, so the Trail Blazers can only play some simpler routines in today's game.

Chuck Daley and Brandon Malone had the Trail Blazers' routine on track almost before the game, so as soon as the game started, the Knicks' defensive system worked very smoothly, and the Trail Blazers could only rely on their individual ability to score.

On the offensive side, Li Wei designed a lot of tactics that required the cooperation of point guards and power forwards, bullying Damon Stoudemire's failure to cooperate with the rest of the Trail Blazers' players and O'Neal Jr.'s lack of experience.

Sure enough, when Knicks players are constantly blocking and wrapping around, Stoudemire and O'Neal Jr. often miss one of them, and then Knicks players can calmly open jump shots.

Unfortunately, the Knicks' shooters were a bit iron today, so although they kept pressing the opposite side after the opening, the score could not be pulled away, and the situation on the court looked very intense.

Trail Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy is a favorite disciple of current Lakers coach Del Harris, and he has a strong ability to adapt on the spot, calling several timeouts.

But even if he has the ability to pass the sky, it is impossible to make too many tricks when the team's main force is absent and the defenders are replaced.

At 98:89, the Knicks went to the next city away and remained undefeated after the All-Star break!