Chapter 036 Battle Piston (1)

On October 30, 2002, the Knicks started their first game of the season on the road.

Knicks vs. Detroit Pistons.

As November approaches, the climate in the United States begins to get colder, but the city of Detroit does not feel that much coolness because the urban climate phenomenon here is very severe. Detroit, as an automobile city, produces almost most of the cars in the United States, and a large number of factories discharge and exhaust dust, resulting in abnormally low air quality.

Last season, the Pistons had a 50-32 record, and their head coach Rick Carlisle was named NBA Coach of the Year with a good record, which is also the second Detroit coach in Pistons history to win this award, and also won the Central Division championship for the first time since 1990. It's worth mentioning that Carlisle later led the Dallas Mavericks to a championship. They beat the Toronto Raptors 3-2 in the first round, but were knocked out by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Detroit Pistons' home stadium, Auburn Hills Palace, was home to a large number of fans early on, and last year's good results gave fans confidence that they could go far this season. The team's season tickets have almost been sold, which makes the boss's face bloom, and the more than 20,000 seats in the stadium are full, and bursts of cheers erupt.

The Auburn Hills Palace has the most profound impact on the vast majority of future fans, not how many championships there are here, not how many superstars who lead the league here, but the Auburn Hills Palace Brawl in 2004. What people remember is the charity-world-Mr. Peace who mixed up multiple teams, maybe many people will be bored for a while, if you tell you that it is Ron Artest, everyone must know that it is this spoof-loving, showy guy who made Auburn Hills Palace famous all over the world.

The Pistons also have the same excellent defensive ability as the Knicks, and their defense is among the best in the league. They had the most blocks and the fewest blocks in the league last season, averaging 6.89 hot pot deliveries per game, which had to make opponents scareless, and it was definitely adrenaline pumping to see the hot pot in every game. Last season's rebounding king and block king were also produced in the Pistons, and they are still all in one, he is the double king of "Big Ben" Ben Wallace, you can imagine how strong their defensive strength is.

The Knicks vs. the Pistons are still very interesting, otherwise ESPN would not have broadcast live in the United States, strong defensive confrontation, the Pistons were last year's central champions, and the Knicks are regulars in the NBA playoffs, and there will definitely be wonderful sparks between each other.

After the players of the two teams warmed up on the court, there were more than ten minutes before the official start of the game, and the fans were constantly playing tricks on the court, and ESPN's commentators Bill Wharton and Mike Brin began to tease.

"I think this game will depend on who has to do a good job defensively, if the Knicks can play their defense, I believe this game will be very interesting!" Bill Walton, a former NBA celebrity and current Hall of Famer, analyzed the strength advantage of the two teams, and it seems that he values the Pistons with home-court advantage.

Mike Brin said, "You seem to be leaning towards the Pistons?" ”

"After all, where is the strength of the Pistons, I don't believe that an offensive conservative coach like Van Gundy can have a way to break the Pistons' iron bucket formation, and it is estimated that Ben Wallace will stage a hot pot dinner again today!"

"Bill, the Knicks won't let them win so easily, you must know Alan Houston's shooting percentage is scary, the Knicks' double guns are not indiscriminate, so the Knicks don't have a big guy like Ewing, they can still have the strength to impact the playoffs." Mike Brin is clearly not as biased as Bill Wharton is in this game.

"Oh, you mean that the center is not as useful as the defender, I don't agree with that. When I think of Van Gundy's expression, I think he must have lost, and hopefully he will change his face today, maybe bring good luck! "Bill Wharton used to be a quality center in the middle of the day, and his analysis of Mike Brin was clearly a bit of a taste.

"I reckon Van Gundy's face would be even more melancholy if he heard your words." Thinking of Van Gundy's bitter and hateful face, Mike Brin laughed.

"Hehe, I think if this year's Pistons Jerry Stackhouse didn't leave, it would definitely be a safe win, imagine an average of 21.4 points per game plus 5.3 assists, plus a super high free throw shooting rate, all of which make the opponent frightened, and now without his majesty, the Pistons will also have a lot less firepower." Bill Wharton also felt a little sorry and said, as if the Knicks should be abused in front of the Pistons.

"It doesn't matter, the Pistons don't have a good guard like Chauncey Billups, plus the growing swingman Richard Hamilton, this is undoubtedly a weapon that the Pistons can win, not to mention a sixth man like Chris Williams, last year's best sixth man, I believe the vitality is definitely not weak."

"Mike, are you going to be on my side and believe that the Pistons can beat the Knicks." Hearing Mike Brin's words, Bill Wharton smiled.

"Hehe, I still think the Knicks and the Pistons have a chance to compete, look at the Knicks' group of guys, they have been in the league for many years, their experience is not to be underestimated, and I heard that a newcomer they joined played well in the preseason." Mike Brin responded with a smile to Bill Wharton's quip.

"You know, pre-season doesn't mean anything at all, pre-season is all about players on vacation on the field, who will fight hard, only those rookies who are going to come out will be in a hurry to prove themselves, they will run desperately." Bill Wharton wasn't interested in rookies at all, because he knew that even the top picks couldn't play any flashy numbers.

"Okay, I think you still have more say than me in this regard, now the game is about to start, let's see who can win in the end, but I still have faith in the Knicks, you know, I have a lot of commentary on the Knicks' games, and I still have a soft spot for them!"

The Knicks vs. the Pistons have not been broadcast in the main media in China, firstly, there are not too many ratings for these two teams, even if Liang Xiao is in the Knicks, but he has not yet been able to enter the eyes of big media like what imperial court TV, and secondly, everyone is willing to pay attention to this year's draft champion Yao Ming, this is the height that basketball should have in the minds of the Chinese people.

However, there are still people on the Internet and some small media who are paying attention to the Knicks, after all, Chinese people still have a preference for their own people, no matter how well he plays. Just like Sun Yue and Yi Jianlian later, they will only be angry with their own people and will ignore them for two sentences, and no one will really ignore them, which may be a kind of ambivalence of the Chinese people.