On April 24, 2001, the NBA announced the Coach of the Season (COY):

Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy won the award without any suspense.

As the only team to score 60+ wins this season, Van Gundy deserves the award!

With star players injured, the main center facing retirement, and the starting No. 3 and No. 4 both rookies, the Knicks played the best offensive performance in the league after ditching most of the low-post offense.

In the 82 regular season games, the Knicks averaged 104.6 points per game, 85.7 shots per game, and 22.6 shots per game from beyond the three-point line.

The Kings, who are in second place, are averaging 101.7 points per game;

The Bucks in third place are averaging 100.7 points per game, the Lakers in fourth place are averaging 100.6 points per game, and the Mavericks are averaging 100.5 points per game in fifth place.

Only the above 5 teams have averaged more than 100 points per game this season, and if compared with the Bulls, who are in the bottom and average 87.6 points per game, the Knicks are far ahead!

At present, the offensive ability of outside players is stretched and inefficient, and most teams are still dominated by big players.

The reason why the Knicks are loved by many fans is mainly because Li You's performance is out of gear.

Just like Michael Jordan's early 90s outside players were pecking each other, Li You, who scored in the 180 club this season, also crushed all the outside players.

History is always strikingly similar, and Eastern Conference teams have been taught to be people by Jacks, survived the Bulls, and welcomed the Knicks

There are already many players who are imitating Li You, such as Antoine Walker of the Celtics who fished early and cheered up in the face of doubts:

"Li can shoot three-pointers, why don't you allow me to shoot along?"

Shooting proved to be a talent too, and Antoine Walker took a flying wave, sacking head coach Pitino and earning a new title himself:

"Wave Throwing Brush!"

It's not that you don't want to learn, but you really can't learn, even if most Eastern teams have been defending Li You's three-point shot this season, the output is still leading.

The New York media, which got the news early, frantically touted the bald young marshal early in the morning, and Jeff Van Gundy made headlines in the sports section of several print media.

Whether it's a regular season or a playoff win percentage, Jeff Van Gundy is ridiculously high.

Phil Jackson has become a "KFC" old man, a real champion coach, and it depends on Coach Van Gundy!

The coaches' union also sent their blessings, and it seemed only a matter of time before Jeff Van Gundy became a superstar and surpassed Cardinal Auerbach

The bald young coach led the Knicks to play a beautiful offense, but the defensive end slipped further, averaging 96.0 points per game, ranking 14th in the league.

No. 13 happens to be the Kings, and No. 15 is the Lakers.

Even if it is converted into 100 rounds of defensive data, the above three teams are still at this level, with good offense and defense, and no one in the league has done it at present.

The defensive end has slipped and the Knicks are staffing issues, while the Lakers have been affected by injuries to O'Neal and Kobe.

In the morning TNT program, in addition to congratulating coach Van Gundy on the award, he also discussed the changes in the Knicks this season.

Kenny Smith has long seen the team statistics, but it is difficult for him to comment on the Knicks' performance, so he can only give his opinion euphemistically:

"The competitive environment for teams in the East and West is very different."

"For the most part, the Knicks' opponents are Eastern Conference teams, and there is no disrespect for everyone, and from a schedule perspective, it is really easier than the teams in the Western Conference."

"Coach Van Gundy is really amazing, but this season the Knicks have slipped down, and it has nothing to do with the head coach's ability, but something wrong with the idea of building the team."

Charles Barkley didn't look at the data carefully, just grinned and said:

"If I were to coach the Knicks, maybe I could have a good performance, and I believe I could do better than Thomas, at least the Pacers wouldn't have just 41 wins."

"Kenny has a point, the Knicks have problems on the interior defense, and the big men don't take on more scoring tasks on the offensive end"

'But for this squad to achieve such results, I have to give credit to Coach Van Gundy, he is underrated and he deserves more respect!'

After Ernnie Johnson blew the bald young marshal, he followed up with the introduction of Li You's relevant data:

"The best offense in the league is also inseparable from Lee's performance!"

"This season, inside the three-point line, Lee averaged 13.5 shots per game, and under the 0~3-foot basket, he took as many as 6.3 shots."

"The shooting percentage under the basket is an astonishing 74.3 percent, which leads all backcourt players in the league in production and efficiency."

"Maybe that's why the Knicks changed their tactics, Lee's finish under the basket is even better than most of the big men in the league!"

Referring to these statistics, Charles Barkley was a little speechless, and finally could only talk about the scene:

"Eastern Conference teams need to be ready, and when it comes to the playoffs, Lee's scoring efficiency will increase, and I can't think of anyone who can limit him."

“.”

At 20 o'clock in the evening of the 24th, the first round of G2 officially started, and before the game, Jeff Van Gundy received the trophy of the best coach in the press room.

The bald young marshal always had a smile on his face, and in addition to the New York media, there were also reporters from the Chinese Sports Weekly at the scene.

Su Qun looked at Jeff Van Gundy, who received the award, and chirped with the media on the scene, while the young staff around him whispered:

"If Van Gundy can coach the Mavericks, maybe Dazhi will get more opportunities."

"Nelson Sr. is so stubborn, Nowitzki can still start with a 30% shooting rate, which is really incomprehensible."

Many young staff members have just come into contact with the NBA, and Su Qun did not stop everyone from complaining, and they were also a little unhappy with Wang Zhizhi's treatment.

China's best young players have only played a few games late in the regular season with the Mavericks, which is not what fans expected.

What's even more interesting is that because the 76ers have won a bunch of honors this season, after this boastful report, Chinese fans have learned about the rebellious Iverson.

Lee Woo is just an "equip dog", while Iverson is a fashionista.

Unlike the Knicks, who strictly enforce the dress code, factors such as "chains", "dirty braids", "wide casual suits", "unyielding fighting spirit" and so on have made Iverson gain a lot of fans on the other side of the ocean.

When Li You, who was wearing a training suit, appeared at the press conference, he also brought a gift to the balding young marshal, a custom-made ROLEX Rolex watch.

Despite getting the highest salary, Jeff Van Gundy doesn't have too many luxuries on his body except for a suit, and Li You didn't forget to joke when he gave gifts:

"Coach, I hope you like everyone's mind, don't forget to change your Toyota, you know, that's not in line with the team's temperament at all!"

The New York media in the audience burst into laughter, and when they often go to the Tarrytown training center, they will find that among the luxury cars in the parking lot, there is always a special Toyota car

Jeff Van Gundy hugged Li You, returned to his seat, and also joked with a smile:

"I'm going to change cars in the offseason, I'm sorry I've been holding the team back for so many years!"

“.”

The bald young marshal has promised to change the car many times, but every time he is reluctant to spend money, accept this watch worth more than 10,000 yuan, and then drive a small car, it is indeed a little unbearable.

The Chinese media didn't get to the point of laughter, Su Qun looked at Li You's back and sighed secretly, some things can't be reported at all, the lives of top stars, it's not correct to report too much.

The Knicks were all smiling, and the Pacers came to the Madison Square Garden arena with a smile on their faces after a two-day break.

After the players of both teams came out, the atmosphere became more and more hot, and nearly 20,000 spectators were waiting for kickoff with a smile, no one cared about the state of the opponent, and the Knicks would win anyway.

In the final warm-up period before the game, Grant Hill moved his body and came to dunk from time to time.

Ewing chatted and laughed with the socialites in the front row on the sidelines, and the gorillas seemed particularly relaxed.

Lee just shoots at random, his warm-up is already complete, and he occasionally says hello to the Pacers.

Isaiah Thomas is not in a good mood, as a rookie head coach, even if he is successful in the playoffs, it is only the ball critics who repeatedly ridicule his coaching skills, which makes him very uncomfortable.

After the start of the game, the two sides entered a battle of offense, and the Pacers no longer deliberately pressed the rhythm, throwing the opportunity to run on the outside, and switching offense to attack the frame directly.

By the second quarter, Isaiah Thomas was in a state of complete rage, yelling on the sidelines in an attempt to encourage his players.

Reggie Miller, who was particularly stretched in his projection state in the last game, finally broke out.

Watching Reggie Miller, who received the ball on the left wing outside the three-point line, received the ball and shook it, forced a jump shot after a tentative step, and the arena boos for a while.

At 47:51, Reggie Miller, who had not missed a shot in the second quarter, also roared when he retreated, giving himself two blows to vent his frustration.

"Reggie Miller is in such good form, so far in the game, he has only conceded two shots!"

7-of-9 in the first quarter, and unabated in the second quarter, Mav Albert on the commentary bench could only praise, which was completely different from the state of Bang Bang in the last game.

“Let's go Knicks！.”

The New York fans at the scene were enraged, shouting louder and louder, and drove the baseline ball, and Lee Woo gave the ball to Grant Hill without waiting for half time.

The brainless game strategy that the Pacers once again executed tonight seems to be more suited to a big man like O'Neal Jr. than a complicated defensive switch.

Seeing Lewis standing in the left elbow area, Ewing moved to the right elbow area, and Isaiah Thomas on the sidelines shouted to remind Best:

"Keep up! Look for opposing defenders! ”

Even if he didn't hear the head coach's shout, the little man Best was about to hang on Li You at this time.

When the two came to the left flank, Best didn't look at the position, and pulled in concealment, constantly moving his hands, concentrating on defending Li You.

At the top of the arc, Jalen Rose also didn't stick to Grant Hill, leaving room for a step while shouting out to his teammates to keep the alignment.

On the right flank, Alan Houston suddenly cut in laterally, first walked up the line to try to get rid of Reggie Miller with Ewing defense, moved to close to the free throw line, and immediately walked off the line, going around Lewis and quickly bounced out.

Li You started synchronously, and under the pull, he first rushed to the left near the bottom line, and then suddenly bounced diagonally outward, and ran to the right flank with the help of Ewing's cover.

The two ran at the same time, and in the end, it was Li You's side that had an opportunity.

On the right flank, without waiting for Li You to receive the ball, Ewing immediately went down, and O'Neill Jr. hesitated again, and was eaten by the gorilla continuously, so that he did not immediately pounce in front of Li You.

Best saw that his teammates did not choose to delay the change of defense, and before he had time to remind, Li You, who received the ball on the right wing, did not make any adjustments, drifted slightly after twisting, and quickly jumped outside the three-point line!

"Huh!" Three-pointers hollow into the net.

At 47:54, with the last 2 minutes and 46 seconds left in the half, the difference was opened again, and everyone on the Pacers bench was staring straight.

Reggie Miller was superb, but still couldn't tie the score.

“Wow！”

The cheers in their ears reminded the Pacers that they were still behind, and Best, who took the baseline ball, was led by Li You, and the speed of the advance plummeted.

After a frenzied attack for half the game, Reggie Miller also began to gasp for breath at this time, tossed back and forth on the baseline repeatedly, bounced to the right flank, and still failed to find a chance.

O'Neal Jr. asked for the ball with his back in the low post on the left side at this time, facing Ewing and looking particularly confident.

Coming to the left flank, Best, under the interference of Li You, the quality of the lob was not high, so that O'Neal Jr. could not receive the ball in the most comfortable position.

Approaching the left blocking area, the moment he received the ball, O'Neal Jr. didn't shake much, and after putting the ball with his left hand, he arched against Ewing and hit the bottom left of the basket, which immediately exploded, causing a foul on the gorilla beater.

Ewing, whose lateral speed has dropped, looked a little embarrassed in the face of the impact of the young center, and the idle Jeff Van Gundy took advantage of the opponent's free throws to immediately replace Ben Wallace, and at the same time comforted:

"Pat, get some rest!"

Since Ben Wallace had 2 fouls in the first quarter, Ewing had to play a little longer in the second quarter and returned to the bench and couldn't help but gasp for air.

Although the Pacers chased the score very strongly, the Knicks still didn't react much, O'Neal Jr. missed the second free throw, scolded in a low voice, and didn't care about grabbing the frontcourt rebound, so he turned his head and quickly retreated.

Crohill also followed Lewis through the half, and Ben Wallace, who grabbed the rebound, gave the ball to Grant Hill and rushed with everyone.

At the top of the arc, Lee You, who ran to the left wing, moved sideways, away from the three-point line, and received a hand-handed pass from Grant Hill.

Facing the bag of Jalen Rose and Best, he dribbled laterally, and after pulling the defense, Lee Woo quickly turned and returned the ball to Hill on the left wing.

The latter received the ball with no one in front of him, did not choose a three-point shot, but dribbled forward with two big steps, blocked the left area, and made a quick stop jump shot!

Scoring so easily also made Grant Hill smile, and the unguarded mid-range near the free throw line was still solid.

At 48:56, the margin is still widening.

On the commentary bench, Hubby Brown immediately shook his head when he saw this situation:

"Staying away from the three-point line, there's no need to execute an aggressive defensive strategy."

"If you want to chase points, the Pacers have to pay attention to defensive details, and Coach Thomas needs to continue to adjust in the midfield."

As he spoke, Jalen Rose used the cover of O'Neal Jr. in the right elbow area to curl and cut straight inside.

Ben Wallace kept sliding to the right and jumped up with him in the paint.

Jalen Rose realized that he couldn't get rid of the defense, so he wanted to touch the porcelain directly, twisting his body in the air, but it didn't play any role, and his left-handed throw was directly pressed down by Ben Wallace.

"Oh!"

Looking at Jalen Rose who was hitting the street, there were excited shouts in the arena for a while.

Lewis controlled possession and immediately flung the ball forward.

Best watched Li You on his side accelerate again, and could only chase after him.

Taking advantage of Li You's catch of the ball, Best hurriedly pulled his hands and gave a physical confrontation at the same time, the two came to the right flank, Li You suddenly stopped and dribbled quickly behind his back.

The moment you switch to your left hand, you immediately go in and out, swing right and left, and take advantage of your body to exert force outward, and immediately use your right foot as the axis to complete the turn very quickly.

Best completely lost the defensive position, watched Li You catch the ball with his right hand, and then wanted to chase the defense, but his hand movements were slapped off by the ball protector, and the two collided, but Li You borrowed his strength again and went straight to the basket.

From shaking to passing, Li You's movements were too fast, and when the fans reacted, they only saw Best lose his defensive position in embarrassment, and watched Li You break through to the basket, and after jumping with both feet, he grabbed the ball with his right hand, and dunked in a tomahawk style!

"Boom!" Convert the dunk to get it!

At 48:58, the margin was in double digits, and Madison Square Garden was completely boiling.

The fast break is as fierce as a tiger, and Li You, who dunked easily, retreated with a smile, returned to the halfcourt, noticed that Reggie Miller seemed to be unable to run, and quipped in a low voice:

"Reggie, retire! I think you're a good docent! ”

"Blind, broken!"

Reggie Miller pushed away Lee You, who was hugging him, let out a low roar, and began to prepare to run again.

In the face of the Knicks' rotation in the backcourt, the old Miller, who didn't rest for a minute in the half game, really couldn't stand it.

No matter how he ran back, Li You always chased after him, and the offensive time consumed 14 seconds, and the tactics were not successful, and finally Crohill forced Lewis in the right blocking area, and the basket was missed.

Ben Wallace grabbed the backcourt rebound again, looked at the Pacers who quickly retreated, and gave the ball to Grant Hill as soon as possible.

Accelerating along the left touchline, Hill chased the opponent's ass across the half court after receiving the ball.

There was a slight pause on the three-point line, and Grant Hill, who was holding the ball in his left hand, broke through his shoulder, and pressed against Jalen Rose, who was constantly sliding to the right, and accelerated on the left wing.

Unable to completely get rid of the defense, Grant Hill suddenly split the ball behind his back during the march, and Ben Wallace, who followed up in the middle, received the ball and burst down!

O'Neal Jr. also showed his talent, and he just interfered with the inevitable dunk.

Without complaining to the referees, Ben Wallace landed on the ground and jumped a second time, grabbed the rebound again, and then immediately flung the ball to the top of the arc outside the three-point line.

After receiving the ball, Li You put the ball with his right hand, faced Best, who pounced again, and shook his body to the left after dribbling under his crotch, and then changed direction sharply in front of his body.

Best, who was still sliding to the right, was staggered and didn't have time to adjust the center of gravity of the defense, and was passed by Li You, who was holding the ball in his right hand.

At this time, the Pacers had just finished the defensive alignment, and O'Neal Jr., who had completed the block, was still observing the situation on the court, and in the blink of an eye, Li You was in the paint area directly in front of the basket.

Jumping with both feet, Li You ignored O'Neal Jr., who jumped up and blocked again, grabbed the ball with his right hand, crashed into the defense in the air, his head was almost flat frame, and he slammed the ball into the basket!

"Boom!"

The basket roared, and Li You won the dunk violently!

“Wow！”

Madison Square Garden was completely fried, the fans stood up and shouted excitedly, Ben Wallace under the basket was stunned, and then stepped forward to hug Li You, who fell to the ground, followed by a burst of screams.

"Ahh

Before he had time to pretend to be X, Li You was surrounded by his teammates, and everyone was stimulated by the sudden buckle.

Little O'Neal, who almost hit the street, stood stupidly under the basket, seemingly unable to believe that he was dunked.

The guard dunked the center, the visual effects exploded, and Mav Albert also subconsciously raised the volume:

"God! It's incredible, Lee's dunk is so wonderful! ”

Hubby Brown noticed that the Pacers players were a little frustrated, and could only sigh for a while:

"In the transition attack, Grant Hill and Lee always easily created chances when they broke through, and they needed to strengthen their defence if they were to recover the score in the second half."

In the final minute or so, the two sides began to stand at the free throw line, and at halftime, the Knicks led by 12 points, 50:62.

Reggie Miller scored 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting in the half, 2-of-3 from beyond the three-point line and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Just thinking that the team was still behind by double digits, the old Miller who walked to the players' tunnel could only gasp for breath.

On the other side, Li You only played 16 minutes in the half, 8-of-12, 1-of-3 from beyond the three-point line, 4-of-4 from the free throw line, and got 21 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 turnover.

Artest was still yelling beside Li You as he walked to the players' tunnel, and it seemed that he had not recovered from the excitement of the dunk.

The form of the players on both sides is written on their faces.

After the start of the second half, Reggie Miller, who was in great form, completely wilted, was constantly chased and could not get rid of the defense.

Jalen Rose, who took over the offensive ball, began to play iron again

Coach Isaiah Thomas on the sidelines watched the Knicks rush faster and faster, counterattacking wave after wave, and could only shout loudly, but it didn't work.

A couple of timeouts also failed to stop Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller's iron-striking offense.

Watching Li You, who grabbed the long rebound, crushed and squeezed past Best, the right wing cut in again, and O'Neal Jr., who was chasing behind him, simply gave up the defense.

Jalen Rose retracted to the basket, only to see Li You throw the ball to the upper left of the basket, and the follow-up Grant Hill scooped the ball in the air and easily dunked it with both hands!

At 65:85, the difference came to 20 points.

"The outcome has been decided, and the Knicks have once again crushed the Pacers with a counterattack!"

"Maybe it's time for Coach Thomas to think about how to defend the home stadium."

Hubby Brown grinned as he watched everyone on the Knicks bench and could only shake his head helplessly, the game did not meet his expectations.

Seeing the Pacers request a timeout, Marf Albert went back to talking outside of the game:

"The 76ers beat the Magic again last night, and they have a chance to reach the Eastern Conference Finals this season."

"It's a shame that head coach Larry Brown missed out on the best coach award, and the Knicks have really been so good this season."

The two started talking about the awards, and after the pause, they didn't talk about the game in every round.

At the end of the third quarter, the score came to 69:92, and the fourth quarter of the game entered garbage time again.

During the break, Madison Square Garden was jubilant, and although the old rivals played well tonight, the Knicks seemed to be getting better, which made New York fans feel good!

Back on the bench, Li You was also clashing fists with everyone, putting on a training uniform by the way, and was about to throw a towel in the fourth quarter.

"I think everybody underestimates your speed, you're even faster than some short guards!"

Grant Hill, who was in good form tonight, returned to his seat and whispered praise for Li You's performance, obviously, the slap also scared the "Jordan successor".

Taking the kettle handed by Billups, Li You replenished his water, and when he heard Grant Hill's words, he only shrugged his shoulders:

"There are still some gaps, but I think I still have room for improvement."

The atmosphere group on the side was speechless, can you still improve?

Li You raised his eyebrows at everyone, smiled and did not explain, what he said was true:

[Aaron Iverson's extraordinary speed]

The talent obtained by the Atlantic Division champion in the regular season, considering that he is not slow, this talent will not improve much after adaptation.

Looking at the atmosphere group full of motivation and ready to go on the field to brush up points, after Li You exhaled the talent panel, he looked at the new talent was already purple, and sighed regretfully in his heart:

"Sure enough, it's about to reach the limit again"

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(End of chapter)