The next day, May 15, at half past nine in the morning, the league announced the schedule of the East and West matchups.

In the East, the Bulls vs. the Pistons, the former has the advantage of the home court, the format is a best-of-seven system, a 22111 schedule, the G1 game will start on the 18th, and the next few games in the series are 20, 22, 25, 27, 29, and 31.

West, Trail Blazers vs. Jazz, G1 will start on the 17th, followed by the 19th, 21st, 24th, 26th, 28th, and 30th.

Following the league's announcement of the schedule for the East-West Conference finals, it was announced that the roster of the best defenders will be announced on ABC TV at 9 o'clock in the morning tomorrow.

In the morning, Pistons management reached out to the Bulls to discuss the visiting team's tickets, which were finally set at 2,000 tickets.

Both the Bulls and Pistons wanted to have some fans of their own on the road, and the negotiations went well.

Detroit is not far from Chicago, less than 500 kilometers, Pistons fans don't have much money, but you can drive to watch the game, you don't need to live in Chicago, you only need ticket money, although the Bulls' tickets to the East Conference are very expensive, but Detroit can still get together enough for 2,000 fans who can afford tickets.

At noon, Roger Philippe called.

"Iron Fist, Jordan's performance this season is amazing, especially after entering the playoffs, his state is like an explosion, which makes his sneaker sales explode, you should know the impact, right?"

"Yes, my balls are unsalable."

"It's not too serious, yesterday's sales were only down 35 percentage points from the day before yesterday."

"Uh, Rogge, the company isn't going to go bankrupt, is it?"

That's what Jordan wants to see, but it's impossible, Skechers has other shoes, and has invited a lot of Hollywood stars to endorse them, and it's developing well. Iron Fist, so you don't have to worry about that. ”

"Eight million dollars, how much have I accomplished?"

"Oh, it's only been 24 days since it went public, and as of yesterday, $1.71 million has been completed, Iron Fist, don't worry, $8 million is no problem."

"How many pairs were sold yesterday?"

"Well, a total of 321 pairs were sold."

Zhou Quan's brain is numb, this is not even $10,000 in sales, it is still the hottest playoff period, his performance is not bad, and he can even be said to be excellent, how can it be so bad? Did they all go buy Jordan's shoes?

If this continues, after the playoffs, there will be several months of offseason, and his sneakers will be taken off the shelves, and now the store will be closed.

By the way, there is also the Olympics, he has no chance to participate, and Jordan's superstars and supergiants can participate, attract a wave of attention from all over the world at the Olympics, and sell a few more warehouse sneakers, in a few months, who will be interested in his sneakers? Eight million, I'm afraid that half of it won't be sold by then.

Philip comforted: "Iron Fist, don't be discouraged, Jordan's momentum is indeed too strong now, not only you, but other people's sneaker sales have also been affected, and your fan base is too small, so the impact is slightly greater." ”

"What should I do?" Zhou Quan asked calmly.

Philip immediately said: "East final, seize the opportunity of the East final, he is very likely to play against you, you have to play well against him, you have to have a shining point, you have to let the media camera stay on you, you have to let the fans' eyes fall on you, you can do it, Zhou, I believe in you." ”

"I see."

What Philip said is actually difficult, his current athleticism, it is difficult to play like Jordan, there are no difficult jump shots, no flashy dunks, not even extremely fast breakthroughs, and there are few places to attract fans.

Or, only a few brilliant passes can get the attention of the fans, but these are nowhere near as high-profile as Jordan's.

It is very obvious that now the league is desperately trying to support Jordan, so there is only one person in the external publicity, and that is Jordan.

And most of the media's attention to the NBA is Jordan.

In their live broadcast footage, there is only Jordan, and there is no room for a second person, even if a player stands next to Jordan, he will be thrown out by the camera.

This kind of fire-like publicity, coupled with Jordan's hot performance, is making Jordan's popularity and influence rise like a rocket.

So he knows very well that it is very difficult to win attention in the confrontation with Jordan.

"Zhou, do you have a chance to join the Chinese men's basketball team? It would be nice if I could go to the Olympics this time. Philip asked.

Zhou Quan said helplessly: "No, our domestic basketball has not yet become professional, I am not from a sports school, I have never played in the city and provincial teams, and the chance is very small." ”

He thought of Zhang Lili, but there was no news for so long, there must be no chance, otherwise Zhang Lili would not have contacted him.

"It's a pity."

Philip suddenly suggested: "Zhou, why don't you emigrate, with your strength, you should have the opportunity to join the U.S. men's basketball team in the next Olympics." ”

"That's not going to work, I don't have the idea of immigrating at the moment." In order to participate in the Olympics and change nationality, this thing must not be done, Zhou Quan said decisively.

"It's a pity."

Philip didn't persuade again, he knew Zhou Quan's character.

……

At this time, in a large conference room in Madison Square Garden in New York, the draw ceremony for the NBA League '92 Draft was underway.

Of the 27 teams, 16 playoff teams are not eligible for the draw, and the remaining 11 teams are drawn for the top three picks in the first round, and the rest of the teams are ranked according to their regular season records.

David Stern had been thinking about throwing Zhou Quan to the West, separating him from Jordan, and even had the idea of Big Dream, but now that Big Dream has reached an agreement with Mosaic management to renew his contract early, and there is no conflict between Jordan and Zhou Quan again, this idea faded.

He wanted to get O'Neal to the Lakers, but the Lakers are a playoff team and it is impossible to get the No. 1 pick.

So after thinking about it repeatedly, he decided not to interfere in this draft.

In the end, the Magic got the top pick, the Hornets got the top pick, and the Timberwolves got the probe pick.

……

That night, ABC TV aired an NBA show about which of the four teams had a better chance of winning the championship.

The program arranged a telephone voting session, with a total of 27 operators, and after the numbers were announced, they were so busy that they didn't even have time to go to the bathroom.

In the end, a total of 5,496 people participated in the telephone voting during the 32-minute voting time, and the voting result was that the Bulls received 3,820 votes, the Trail Blazers 560 votes, the Jazz 565 votes, and the Pistons 551 votes.

There was only one result in this vote, which increased the momentum of the Bulls to win the championship and put more pressure on the other three teams.

In Portland, Glider Drexler stared at the TV in a daze, and the result of this vote made him a little sad, and his eyes were red.

As a flyer, the glider is too low-key, and outside of Houston and Portland, his reputation is not obvious and completely unmatched by his strength.

are both flyers, Jordan and Drexler are the relationship between North Qiao Feng and South Murong, but Jordan is a three-tube adrenaline glider, one is extremely high-profile and the other is extremely low-key.

"Alas!"

This season, he played the No. 1 record in the West, and he was so unexpectedly unfavorable, Drexler couldn't help but sigh.

There is no holiday between him and Jordan, but there is a holiday, which leads to a very fierce competition between the two, even greater than the three super centers, and Jordan even tears his face and publicly scolds him.

In the '84 draft, the head coach of the U.S. men's basketball team suggested to the general manager of his friend the Trail Blazers to use the list to select Michael Jordan, but the Trail Blazers chose a parallel insider, and the parallel goods concealed the injury in order to be selected, and killed the Trail Blazers.

And that was it, but then after Jordan played a surprising performance in his rookie season, the Trail Blazers were forced to come out and explain that they already had a glider, they didn't need another flyer anymore, they needed an interior lineman more.

This remark angered Jordan, and since then he has been eyeing Drexler, and the two have become mortal rivals, and Jordan is very energetic every time he fights Drexler.

"Clyde, this year's championship is not booked by anyone, you can too."

Drexler didn't have any rhetoric, so he could only silently cheer himself in his heart.

……

On the 16th, at 9 a.m., the 9 o'clock news program of the ABC TV sports channel began.

The host, Hank Volker, raised a few envelopes at the camera and said excitedly: "Ladies and gentlemen, look, I've got them, and the fate of all the stars is in my hands, hahaha......"

"Well, let's take a look, here's the list of the best defensive second team......"

As he spoke, he opened one of the envelopes, took out a piece of white letterhead, opened it and looked at it for a moment, and then said:

"Oh, congratulations to New York Knicks super-center Patrick Ewing, Mr. King Kong, you're on the second team again.

Well, it's the third time you've been named to the second team, and I don't think you're going to be happy, but for everyone else, it's already the top hard accolade and you should be happy about that. ”

"Humph!"

In New York, in his own home, Ewing was very depressed as he was tidying up his golf clubs.

It's been a depressing season, being eliminated in the first round by the Pistons, and now he hasn't been selected to the defensive team, and I'm afraid he doesn't want to be selected to the best team, and he won't get anything this season.

Played for 5 seasons, didn't have a defensive team, only a best team, and didn't play a single East final, he thought he had a chance this year, but he was eliminated in the first round.

At this point, Hank Volcker continued: "Next, two forwards, they're Larry Nance and Buck Williams, congratulations. ”

Zhou Quan got up and poured a glass of water, and after sitting back on the sofa, his eyes were fixed on the TV again, and he didn't touch the glass of water.

At this point, Volcker added: "Finally, let's announce the names of the two defenders. Congratulations, John Stockton. ”

Zhou Quan picked up the water glass, but put it down again.

He wasn't thirsty, he just wanted to calm himself down by drinking water, but his willpower made him give up on the idea.

At this time, Volcker said: "Second guard, congratulations, the main point guard from the Detroit Pistons, Zhou Quan." ”

Zhou Quan picked up the water glass again, but put it down again, and then smiled.

He was still not thirsty, and just wanted to calm himself down by drinking water.

Being named to the All-Defensive Second Team in his rookie season shows that his defense has been recognized by the media and the league, and it is also a great affirmation for him.

Then his phone rang, and the first one to call was his agent Philip, and then his teammates also called to congratulate him.

"Joe, congratulations, you should be able to get in this time." When he received the call from Jo Dumas, he sent congratulations in advance.

"Hehe, I'm afraid it's difficult." Jo Dumas said modestly.

"If you can't enter the first formation, the second formation will definitely enter, and now the second formation does not have you, and the first formation will definitely have you." Zhou Quan reasoned.

"I hope so." Jo Dumas laughed.

A few minutes later, Joe Dumas's name was read out by Hank Volker, and he was selected for the defensive lineup.

In addition to him, there are David Robinson, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman.

The Bulls and Pistons each have two of them named to the defensive lineup, which is also convincing, as the Pistons have the strongest defense this season, followed by the Bulls.

Next up is the best team, with three teams announced first.

According to the data, Zhou Quan also hopes to be selected for the third team, but he has no thoughts about it because his shooting percentage is too poor.

Sure enough, the best three guards were Mark Price, who had just been eliminated by him, and Kevin Johnson, the Suns' point guard.

The Lightning averaged 19.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.5 turnovers per game, shooting 47.9% from the field, 56.2% true shooting and 3.06 assist-to-turnover ratios.

Mark Price averaged 17.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 turnovers per game while shooting 48.8% from the field, 60.6% from the field and 3.36 with turnovers and assists.

Both men are far more efficient than him in offensive efficiency and are indeed more qualified to be named to the All-Star team than he is.

"Dennis, congratulations, you have to remember to treat."

He made a call to Rodman, and with 10.2 points and 18.7 rebounds, he was actually selected to the best three teams.

"No problem, I'm sure I'm in for a treat."

Rodman was also very happy, the defense was several times, the best team was the first time, and the third team was also the best team, and he immediately agreed.

"Congratulations to Patrick Ewing for making the second team of the year."

"Humph!"

It's the second child again, either pressed by big dreams, or pressed by David Robinson, what is there to congratulate? Ewing grunted in frustration again.

The next team was Jordan and David Robinson re-selected, both of whom were named to the double team this season.

At noon, Zhou Quan arranged a restaurant and invited his teammates to a big meal, which he had promised before, plus he was selected for the second defensive team.

"Hey, Iron Fist, what would you like to eat tomorrow at noon?"

At two o'clock, the staff at the headquarters called and asked for a recipe.

"Well, prepare me a portion of rice, a large portion of seven-ripe veal steak, a portion of caviar, and ......," he read a long string.

At three o'clock, ESPN released its latest forecast for the odds of winning the championship.

The Bulls swept their opponents in two rounds and entered the Eastern Conference finals with an invincible attitude, with enough momentum to crush the Pistons, while the lineup is complete, the players are in good health, the Iron Triangle is in good shape, and Michael Jordan is in an explosive state, with a 99% chance of reaching the finals and a 63% chance of winning the championship.

(End of chapter)