On the sidelines, David Stern, who had a point of view, smiled at Bill Davidson and said, "Bill, there is a lot of hope that your team will complete the rebuild. ”

"But I still need your support."

Davidson smiled in return, and said meaningfully.

Stern smiled and nodded, but didn't answer.

He knew exactly what Davidson meant, and he just wanted him to stop targeting the Pistons.

The year before last, the rule of malicious fouls was introduced, and that was against the Pistons.

The result was very powerful, and it immediately broke the legs of the Bad Boy Army, making it impossible for the Bad Boy Army to complete the three consecutive championships, and was even swept by Jordan in the East Finals, directly destroying the invincible Bad Boy Army.

Honestly, he admires the Pistons' new core, Zhou Quan.

This is a young man who has personally ended the Bad Boy Army, has a big heart and a big picture, and is very resolute, and the ball style is not as dirty as the Bad Boy Army, the only drawback is that there is a bit of violence, but as long as he doesn't cause big things, he will not interfere with Zhou Quan's development.

Judging from Zhou Quan's current strength, his performance in the first season is so strong, there must be room for improvement, and he has the opportunity to become Jordan's fierce rival in the future, and this is also the situation he hopes to see.

The only thing is that he wants to get Zhou Quan to the west.

But the idea is very difficult to implement, and it is more likely that O'Neill will go west, which he can control.

For these reasons, that is, he will not target Zhou Quan's team.

But that's not what he said to the Pistons.

"Phil, I'm going to keep playing."

Off the bench, Jordan said to Phil Jackson.

Phil Jackson nodded, he had great confidence in Jordan's physical fitness, he had never seen anyone in this league who was physically stronger than Jordan, not even close to him.

He immediately said to Jordan: "If Iron Fist keeps up and continues to fight, then it will drag down his physical fitness, and if he doesn't go up, use this opportunity to chase points." ”

Jordan nodded, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

After the two of them said this, they were suddenly stunned.

At the same time, they thought that the biggest threat to them in the current Pistons team is no longer the former FMVP Joe Dumas, let alone the assassin sitting on the bench, but the new core Zhou Quan.

In other words, Zhou Quan, who is still a rookie, has grown to the point where he threatens the bull enough.

Phil Jackson said thoughtfully: "The Pistons' five main players, Joe Dumas is 29 years old and still in his prime, Rodman is 31 years old and is currently at his peak, John Seley is 28 years old, Ulrich is the oldest, 33 years old, their main lineup can be used for up to two years, and then it will definitely enter the downward channel."

As for their bench lineup, Marc Aguirre and Isaiah Thomas are not good, and now they are only average, and next season will be even worse.

In general, the Pistons' lineup is not a lineup that is rising, but a lineup that is gradually aging and declining, and their rebuilding is not yet complete.

Even if you have a new core, even if Zhou Quan's growth is promising, but he is useless alone, you were so strong at the beginning, you can't lead the bull.

And it's very difficult to build a championship-level squad, and we used it for many years, and they don't have a few years, and they can't put together a championship-level squad.

When Joe Dumas and Rodman are old, there are more and more people who need to be replaced, and to have the right players, the matching lineup, they even need to build a lineup for Zhou Quan for many years, if they are unlucky, even in the entire peak of Zhou Quan, it is not possible.

A team's rebuilding is likely to be far away, so as long as we win against them this time, there is a high probability that we can win them in the next few years, and their threat to us will only get smaller and smaller, and they should not become stronger as Zhou Quan grows. ”

When Michael Jordan heard this, he nodded thoughtfully, thinking that what Phil Jackson said made sense.

After Phil Jackson said these words, the timeout was almost up, and the referee blew the whistle and signaled the players from both sides to come on the field.

"This guy is playing again."

Zhou Quan sat on the bench and couldn't help but admire Jordan's physical fitness when he saw Jordan standing up again.

But he can't go up, the last game is to lose in the second half, the final quarter was broken, he has to leave the physical strength for the final quarter.

The bench consisted of Assassins and Mark Aguirre, and as long as they can play their form, they should be able to buy him and Jo Dumas time to rest.

On the field, Jordan played against the assassins.

Rivals meet, but it is not a needle-to-wheat situation.

The former has reached the peak state from mental to physical, from willpower to game experience, while the latter has been declining since 90 because of injuries, and the regular season has been injured by the Battle of Auburn Hills.

So the two are in a pair, which is the situation of Jordan crushing the assassins, unilaterally crushing Isaiah Thomas from both offensive and defensive ends.

In fact, there is no need for assassins to defend Jordan, his height is lower than Zhou Quan, and it is more suitable for Mark Aguirre to defend, but they are mortal enemies, so the assassins directly changed the defense and defended Jordan in person, and the result of this was to let himself be blown up by Jordan at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.

The Assassin broke through the attack with the ball three times in a row, was cut off once, and was missed twice by defense, and Jordan scored three goals in a row on his head, and his anger immediately increased, and the physical contact with the latter became more and more powerful.

"Brush!"

In the 6th minute, Jordan shook off the Assassin with a pull-up jump shot, and then hit a shot to tie the score at 35:35.

It was his fifth shot in the second quarter, and he scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the Assassins' head and 2-of-2 free throws for a team-wide 15 points in the first half.

The Assassins made 1-of-5 shooting, scoring only 2 points and 1 assist, as well as two turnovers.

Jordan used only half a quarter to help the team erase the point difference with a powerful offense.

This forced the assassin into a hurry, and in the next defense, he directly stretched out his leg to trip Jordan, who broke through with the ball, and then the two immediately clashed.

David Stern's face was ugly, and he felt that Zhou Quan's replacement of Isaiah Thomas as the new core of the Pistons was the most correct decision made by management.

At the same time, he also felt that the last time he blocked Isaiah Thomas from joining the national team, it was also the most correct decision.

The clash quickly subsided, just a push and shoved, not rising to the level of boxing, and then the Pistons called a timeout.

"Haha, I just said it, Michael will definitely adjust his condition soon, I said it, Michael is full of firepower, Isaiah Thomas was beaten to the ground, and he can only use his legs to defend Michael." Ringer Wilson laughed excitedly.

Robert Giddah nodded: "Michael shot 10 of 19 in 18 minutes, the shooting rate increased to 52.6%, plus 4 of 4 free throws, and got 24 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls.

However, with so many shots in a quarter and a half, his physical consumption is also quite large, and the Pistons will definitely have to let the main force play, so he should reduce his shots and focus on the defensive end. ”

Ringer Wilson smiled: "In the past, the media thought that the Pistons' bench lineup was quite strong, and the Assassins and Mark Aguirre should have the strength to help the main team fill the hole, but now it seems that the main force is helping them fill the hole." ”

Robert Giddah nodded: "The main thing is that the strength of the assassin has declined a little seriously, and injuries are tormenting him, whether it is breakthrough speed or agility, he has a significant decline compared to last year, and his shooting touch is even worse, and he can no longer talk about efficiency." ”

Ringer Wilson didn't answer because the Assassins were in such poor shape, and the Battle of Auburn Hills was injured at Grant's knee, which was an important reason.

With six minutes left in the second quarter, the Pistons fielded all their main players to respond.

Zhou Quan is still defending Jordan, and the wonderful thing is that Jordan's luck is bad again, and after a timeout, he missed two consecutive shots, and the Pistons took the opportunity to overtake the score again.

Jordan made 21 shots in less than two quarters, which is a crazy number of shots, accounting for more than half of the team's shots.

Phil Jackson replaced Jordan with Pippen at the time of the dead ball, and the rest were four substitutes, and told Pippen to try his best to hold down the Pistons and bite the score in the next four minutes.

Jordan went down, and Pippen changed Zhou Quan, but Zhou Quan still used the old method, using the block to get rid of Pippen, and then transferred it on a large scale, not giving Pippen a chance to come back to him.

From the beginning of the court to the end of the second quarter two minutes, a total of four minutes, Zhou Quan led the main lineup to play a wave of 10-4 attack, 39:45, once again overtook the score, also stopped the Bulls, Phil Jackson replaced Jordan on the court again.

In the last two minutes, the two sides were mainly defensive, and Jordan did not shoot, focusing on defense, and soon the second quarter was over.

41：47。 The Pistons still led by six points at halftime.

"Michael played 22 minutes and shot 10-of-21 from the field, shooting 47.6 percent, and he was the best player of the game," Ringer Wilson said. ”

Robert Giddah said: "Iron Fist played 6 minutes in the second quarter, 3 shots and 2 shots, all of which were offensive methods of breaking through layups, plus 2 free throws and 2 shots, scoring 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 steal, 18 minutes in the second quarter, shooting 6 of 9, shooting 66.7%, and getting 14 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul.

He was 10 points behind Michael in scoring, but the offensive efficiency was much better than Michael today, which was a rarity for him.

In other areas, he was also very good, especially the playmaking and assisting, and I think he was not weaker than Jordan today. It was his performance that allowed the Pistons to lead the Bulls. ”

Zhou Quan returned to the locker room and immediately asked the masseur to massage him to relax his muscles and reduce fatigue.

In today's game, the Pistons actually have no way out, and if they lose again, the Bulls will get the match point, and they will lose both home courts, and the team's veterans will not be able to last long, but they are afraid that they will collapse to the end, so this is a game that cannot be lost, and he really wants to win.

"Zhou, how is your fitness?"

Chuck Daly asked, standing aside.

He is well aware of the weaknesses of the current team's squad, and last season the team lost its sharpness, no pursuit, and like him, it was like a sunset that was about to set.

And this season, because of Iron Fist, the sharpness has recovered a lot, but it still has the inevitable weakness of the champion lineup and the veteran lineup, that is, even if it can stimulate the sharpness for a while, it is actually the sunset, and the texture has not changed.

The current Pistons team is pointing to Zhou Quan's growth, and then slowly building a lineup.

And now the team can score with the ball, he mainly relies on Joe Dumas and Zhou Quan, and the other three main players are all eating cakes.

And among these two, Zhou Quan is now more threatening than Joe Dumas, and the Bulls can't wrap Joe Dumas, but they may trap Zhou Quan, and he mainly expects Zhou Quan to play.

"Okay." Zhou Quan said.

Chuck Daley thought for a while and said: "There is still time to rest in the third quarter, and we have a 6-point score advantage, so we try to bite the Bulls in the third quarter and make another effort in the final quarter."

I arrange for you to play for 8 to 9 minutes first, plus the interval, you will have at least 4 to 5 minutes of rest. ”

“OK。”

Zhou Quan replied.

Daley added: "You defended Jordan very well today, and even though you only had one steal against him, you reduced his shooting percentage, and that's the most successful defense." The last quarter also guards against him, as long as we guard against him, we can win the bulls. ”

Zhou Quan said modestly: "The main thing is that he feels like it today." ”

Chuck Daley shook his head and smiled: "The reason why his shooting percentage is not high enough must be related to your defense, that's for sure."

Even if he can use the block to temporarily throw you off and get the opportunity to catch the ball, because the offensive time is running out, he will face the situation of being caught immediately after receiving the ball, and the shot will not be very calm, which will definitely affect the shooting rate. ”

Zhou Quan nodded, thinking that Jordan's state today could also be explained in this way.

Fifteen minutes later, the third quarter began.

Zhou Quan played for 8 minutes and was replaced.

In this quarter, he didn't shoot much, and he was building up energy for the final quarter, mainly defending Jordan, and then creating opportunities for his teammates on the offensive end, and handed out three assists again in eight minutes, and has already handed out 10 assists in the game.

Jordan took 21 shots in the first half, so even though the team was behind, he didn't take many shots in the third quarter, hitting five shots and two in eight minutes.

When Zhou Quan left the game, at 56:65, the Pistons had a nine-point lead, but after he went down, Jordan began to chase the points.

Jordan made another steal of the Assassins through strong offense and defense, and scored 8 points in a row on 3-of-5 shots and 2-of-2 free throws within four minutes, leading the team to play a wave of 10:4 attacks, and once again broke the Assassins, 66:69, and the Bulls only trailed by 3 points.

Robert Giddah said: "Iron Fist's defense today is really strong, Jordan has to use the block if he wants to catch the ball, otherwise he can't get rid of him."

Every time he plays against him today, Jordan's efficiency will drop significantly, which can no longer be explained by his touch, which is caused by his defense. ”

Ringer Wilson immediately retorted: "Jordan's efficiency today is average, and it is not necessarily the result of Iron Fist's defense, I think there is still a little problem with the hand." ”

Robert Giddah smiled and said, "Let me cite a statistic, Michael Jordan shot 7-of-19 from the field today, shooting only 36.9% from the field in the time he was in the match with Iron Fist.

And when he faced others, he shot 8-of-12 and shot 66.7%, which proves that it is because of Iron Fist's defense that his efficiency has dropped significantly. ”

"This?"

The data is in front of him, and Ringer Wilson has nothing to say, and it would be unscientific to say it.

Robert Giddah said with a smile: "In the past, the Pistons used Joe Dumas to defend Jordan, and if they had used an iron fist to defend Jordan, the big score might not be 1:2, maybe 2:1." ”

Ringer Wilson retorted again: "It shouldn't be possible, and the Pistons won't necessarily win today, it depends on the performance of the final quarter."

You must know that Michael's usual performance in the final quarter is enough to turn the tables, not to mention that there is only a three-point gap, and now it can only be said that there is no winner or loser.

And just three quarters doesn't mean that Iron Fist can continue to limit Michael's play. ”

Robert Giddah nodded: "Jordan has played 34 minutes, so far he has shot 15 of 31, his shooting rate has increased to 48.4%, 6 of 6 free throws, 36 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls, in fact, the overall efficiency is still very strong."

Played 26 minutes with an iron fist, made 6 of 10 shots, and did not score in the third quarter, with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, and 2 fouls.

Judging from his playing time, it must be preparing for the end of the quarter, so I think there will be a fierce battle between the two sides in the last quarter.

Based on Jordan's performance against Tekken's defense today, as long as Tekken is physically fit, I don't think the Bulls have a better chance of winning. ”

Ringer Wilson laughed: "I still insist that the Bulls can win the Eastern Conference finals, and Michael will definitely play a dazzling performance in the final quarter." ”

On the Bulls bench, Jordan took a stat sheet.

"7 of 19?"

He was very stunned, he faced the iron fist today with this hit rate? Mistaken, right?

"Michael, you can't get rid of him when you're running off the ball."

After making a conclusion that Jordan didn't like very much, Phil Jackson said very seriously: "And I found a problem, when you enter the penalty area, it is easier for him to catch up, and your choice not to run in the paint area is right." ”

When he said this, his mind was actually very uneasy.

Because getting rid of defenders through dense boxes is the best way to get rid of defenders, Jordan often goes from one wing through the box to the other, and after getting rid of defenders, the shot is very effective.

However, today, under the marking of the iron fist, this way to get rid of the defender will not work, on the contrary, after entering the penalty area, it is easier to be caught up.

Like Jordan, he didn't understand why Tekken had such abilities, but the truth was there, and he had to face it up and figure out how to fix it.

He continued: "But it's also a problem at the moment because you have to use pick-and-rolls on the flanks to get rid of him, but then we can't play the triangle attack. ”

Jordan didn't care about being angry and nodded.

He knew that what Phil Jackson said was right, because with Grant's pick-and-roll, the triangle offense really couldn't be played now.

Of course, the triangle offense also has offensive cover, and when the outside line cuts inside, the low post player can come out to do the pick-and-roll, or the outside line to do the pick-and-roll.

If he does a pick-and-roll with John Paxson when he is outside the cut, and Paxson's tonnage and power are not enough, and the pick-and-roll effect is not good, Iron Fist will force Paxson to squeeze away, catch up with him in time, and cut off the connection between him and Pippen, the strong-side ball carrier, and still let him not receive the ball.

And when he tries to block Grant when he cuts inside, Rodman and Tekken immediately switch defenses, still making it difficult for him to catch the ball.

So in the end, his choice today was to use the little space after the dismantling to catch the ball and shoot it right away.

That is to say, in the end, his shot was actually forced to shoot, and the shot was hasty, and the role of tactical coordination was very small, not to mention the creation of singles opportunities for him by triangle tactics.

Phil Jackson said: "To change this passive situation, if we can't change it, we have to be passive like we were today. ”

He also felt a headache, he didn't expect the Iron Fist to defend Jordan so well.

Although the final defense was the combination of Iron Fist and Rodman that finally limited Michael, in the final analysis, it was Michael's inability to completely shake off the Iron Fist.

But he is not a master of on-the-spot response, and he can't come up with a good way to do it now, so he just said, "Let me think about it." ”

There was no time, Jordan hurriedly said: "How exactly?" ”

Scratching his head, in order to calm people's hearts, Phil Jackson pretended to think calmly, and then said: "Let's do this, first you hold the ball on the outside and play alone, the others pull away, and you blow the iron fist first." ”

Jordan was stunned, is this a triangular tactic?

Before Phil Jackson came to the Bulls, he had been fighting alone, and no matter how strong his individual ability was, he would have lost more and won less, resulting in two sweeps by Big Birds in the first round of the playoffs, and he was not confident that he could win without a triangle strategy.

Especially after winning the championship last year, his trust in Phil Jackson is very high, and his confidence in the triangle tactics is also greater, and now he doesn't need the triangle tactics, and let him fight alone, the Pistons are the strongest defensive team in the league, stronger than the Bulls, can it work?

Phil Jackson seemed to see what Jordan was thinking, and quickly explained: "You are holding the ball alone outside, which is not contradictory to the triangle tactics, our triangle position is still the same as before, you can choose to play by yourself, or pass the ball."

The only difference is that you change from playing without the ball to playing with the ball, but this does not contradict the triangle strategy, but it just transfers some of Scotty's organizational functions to you, which will increase your burden. ”

Speaking of which, he said to the others: "Your running and standing are the same, you can't deviate from the tactical requirements. ”

"Yes." The crowd replied.

Jordan still didn't understand, but he could only try first, and there was no time for him to discuss it with Phil Jackson again.

In fact, what he didn't know was that Phil Jackson could only find a better tactic for the time being, so he could only play like this first, using his strong individual singles ability to hold on first.

……

(End of chapter)