After the unexpected victory over the Wizards, the whole team went all out to defeat the visiting Grizzlies, which was a very important game! The first-round pick in '03, no matter what sign the Grizzlies get in the draft, belongs to the Knicks, and this is also the game that Mill told all the players before the game that they must win.

The Grizzlies are basically hopeless to enter the playoffs now, but looking at the Nuggets, the Cavaliers are so 'crazy' to lose the game, and the Knicks also feel empty, it is really a temptation for any team to be rookies in the class of 03.

Then the Knicks came to Atlanta, although Raheem scored 33 points in the face of Cotter's defense in this game, but unfortunately the old dog Robinson, who was at the end of his career, was still beaten by Yao Ming, and the outside line could not prevent Ray Allen from scoring, and Gong Feng and these teammates have formed a certain degree of offensive tacit understanding.

Then there was the game in which the Wizards scored for Ray Allen, known as Allen's 'coming home'. In Madison Square Garden, facing the incoming Bucks, the Knicks assisted Ray Allen as a team, and Allen did not live up to the 'enthusiasm' of his teammates, scoring 50 points after the game, and the Bucks had little hope of the playoffs, and now they are even further away from this level.

This is also the most unenergetic game that Gong Feng saw Gary Payton, watching the long-established veteran just finish the game mechanically, and looking at Ray Allen, who has a completely different experience from himself, Payton is now used to silence.

After beating the Bucks, the Knicks began two consecutive road trips, the first being against the Spurs, who are the first in the West.

Spurs aren't ready for this game, veteran David? Robinson also rested for this game. Although Duncan still cut a solid 25+10. It's a pity for Duncan, who played 45 minutes. The rest of the Spurs players didn't give him any support, and the bench only scored a dismal eight points in the game.

Then in the back-to-back games against the Hornets on the road, the Knicks lost, and the Hornets were very stable, with three of them scoring 24 points, and the Knicks are now stable in the seventh position in the East, and at the end of the season, the players who have entered the state of adjustment are not doing very well.

After seeing the whole process of this game. Mill went out of his way to reach out to Bow Peak and ask what happened to the Wizards in the final stages of last season.

Gong Feng is also a little confused about this, but he just knows one thing, win the game that should be won, and determine the goal that the team hopes to have.

Now the first place in the East is the Wizards, after the Bow Peak trade, Arenas joined the team, the Wizards' firepower began to blow out, imitating the Mavericks' approach in the offense, and Collins also began to encourage all players to play singles. Coupled with the active defense of the whole team, it was Kwame who threaded the needle in the high and low positions. Coupled with the improvement of Arenas' singles efficiency, the Wizards can be said to have been singing like a rainbow in the second half of the season.

The remaining spots are the Pistons, Nets, Pacers, Magic, 76ers, Knicks and Hornets.

The form of the eighth place in the East is not very stable now, the Bucks, Hornets, and Celtics can all fight for this position at the same opportunity, which means that the Knicks cannot relax before the playoffs, otherwise it is still possible to be out, although the current Knicks are three wins ahead of the Hornets who are now eighth in the East, but the top six positions in the East are also very stable.

Because the seventh-place Knicks and the sixth-place 76ers are also 3 wins, so the Knicks just want to fight for the rankings, and in the fourteen games before the playoffs, they can only fight for the fifth or sixth position in the East, and it will be too difficult to go forward, because the top four teams in the East are all teams that are likely to impact the season with 50 wins, even if the Knicks win the remaining fourteen games, there is not much chance of entering the top four.

Mir thought of this, since the team has no home-court advantage to fight for, then it can only choose the top four teams in the East, and the Knicks can be sure to beat.

Thinking of this, Mir deliberately held a closed-door meeting, which included the team's five main players, as well as Thibodeau, who had a one-year contract, and D'Antoni, who Mir finally poached at the end of the season, and the Knicks' record was very interesting in the late season, which is also an important reason why D'Antoni came.

The agreement between the Knicks and Anthony is only signed for one year, and the agreement also specifically stipulates that once D'Antoni has other teams invite him to be the head coach, the Knicks cannot stop it, of course, D'Antoni's salary, the Knicks also give it on a weekly basis, and they also have the right to revoke the agreement at any time.

"Among the top four teams in the East, the Nets and the Wizards I think should avoid collisions, both teams are the kind of teams with mature systems that have both offense and defense, and I don't think there is any chance of winning against the two teams until our defensive system is done well."

"Don't the Pistons have a mature system? I see Carlisle doing a very good job, and the Pistons players are playing very evenly, so why not him? ”

"The Pistons may be strong in the regular season, but in the playoffs, I don't think he can go too far, don't forget, their core, where Chauncey spent last season, Hamilton and Ben are just a bonus, they can't be the deciding factor, Chauncy hasn't finished yet, and become a core transformation!" Thibodeau just lightly stated his factual basis.

"So you mean, we're going to keep the Pistons in the rankings and avoid running into other teams?"

"That's one of the strategies that I think can win."

"Very well, so does anyone have any other thoughts on this?"

"We're in seventh place in the East right now, it's difficult but not impossible to chase the 76ers, and I'm sure a lot of teams are starting to choose their opponents in the playoffs at this stage, so we have to give all the feeling that we're going to keep sprinting and not let the opponents know what we think, and of course for some teams, it's best to be able to form a tacit understanding with us!" This is D'Antoni's statement.

"Do you mean to form a tacit understanding with the Wizards?"

"I'm afraid the Wizards don't want to meet us in the first or second round, they definitely don't want to meet Bow Peak, who is very familiar with them!"

Gong Feng was noncommittal about this, and still didn't say anything.

"Killing people with knives, that's the general idea of the Wizards, he doesn't think we're going to be in the Eastern Conference Finals, we can take advantage of that!"

"Very well, Thibodeau, I need you to do this together. To put it bluntly, I'm the head coach for you assistant coaches and for the New York media, and I can guarantee that your assistant coach's salary will be higher than that of some teams' head coaches, and I will support you in building your own team, I need you Thibodeau, and this team needs you! ”

Thibodeau didn't seem to expect Mir to be so frank here, and he was a little stunned, but he quickly returned to normal, "I will think very positively about it, Mr. Dolan!" ”

Seeing Thibodeau's tone softened slightly, Mir smiled happily and continued: "We have to put enough pressure on the team in front of us, we have to win the game that we have to win." ”

Seeing that everyone looked like they were taking it for granted, Mir decided to arrange something else.

"D'Antoni, I know that there is nothing to do with Yao Ming under your system, Yao Ming's height is a weapon, but he is also unable to adapt to certain tactics, so you pick out five players you want and start training your offensive system."

"That's what I'm paid for! I don't need to list them either, I can say right now that I need Bowpeak, Ray Allen, Hill, Kurt and Battier. ”

"Wait, these people you want, that's what I want, Mir, why don't you think the team's offense is not good enough? Shouldn't we be stepping up defensively? ”

Mir smiled when he heard this, and said to Thibodeau: "Everything has to be done slowly, these people D'Antoni wants are some players with a very high ball quotient, and some players who are easy to accept his system, these players have also formed their own understanding of defense, but they need more tacit understanding from attack." ”

"And you Thibodeau, I need you to get rid of some of the bad habits of Yao Ming, Jay, Gerald, Barnes, Dolyak, the veteran Anthony will be your best assistant, how much work is there, do you need me to say more?" (To be continued.) )