In the afternoon, two quarters of intra-team training games were arranged, and in the second half of the quarter, the excited Rodman and Secali competed for a rebound, bumped into each other, and accidentally broke their feet on the ground, and the team doctor said that they would have to rest for at least half a month, and they would have to rest for six to eight games.

"Nima's!"

Zhou Quan muttered a little disappointed.

Rodman was injured again, which reminded him that his teammate was almost 32 years old, and that the energetic bug had made him ignore his age a bit.

This made him a little worried about whether the management would let Rodman go if he was often injured and sidelined, in order to save space.

The willingness of the owner, Mr. Davis, to invest is also a question.

Two years later, he's a three-year veteran with the Big Bird clause, and so does Rodman and Joe Dumas, and as long as one of the three of them has a cap extension, the space issue can be solved.

On the night of the 8th, the Pistons hosted the Hawks, but the state was not good, and Rodman was absent, which made them lose the eighth game of the season and fell to the first place in the East.

No. 9, he lost back-to-back games at home to the Warriors for the second consecutive loss of the season.

On the 11th, the Spurs visited, and the Pistons' interior line was blown up by super center David Robinson, losing three in a row, 22-10, and a winning rate of 68.75%.

The Bulls also lost that night, and the Pistons still finished second in the East.

On the morning of the 12th, Zhou Quan saw a large number of articles accusing him.

Although the team suspended its losing streak, the media's evaluation of the Pistons team still dropped a notch.

It just so happened that in the past few days, Philip began to promote Zhou Quan, saying that he was going to participate in the San Francisco leg of the All-American Golf Tour during the All-Star Weekend, which caused criticism from the media.

Therefore, as the boss of the team, many media concentrated their firepower to accuse Zhou Quan, believing that his cross-border is too distracting, irresponsible to the team, and at the same time his ability to lead the team is too poor, as long as Rodman is injured, the team will have a losing streak.

"It's clear that Iron Fist suffers from Big Bug Dependence, and it's not so much that the Pistons boss is him, it's more of a Big Bug. Iron Fist's announcement to participate in a professional golf tournament for personal business purposes is also an extremely irresponsible act against the team. Chicago Daily News.

"Iron Fist needs to prove that he can lead the team to victory in Rodman's absence, otherwise he doesn't deserve to be the boss of the Pistons." The New York Times Sports Edition.

"What Iron Fist needs is not to prove himself in golf or any other sport, but basketball the most he needs to prove himself." Miami Daily News.

Zhou Quan didn't finish reading all the newspapers, his mood was a little cold, and he didn't even have a smile on his face.

With the current record of the Pistons, which is still above the Bulls, he is also very disappointed that there are so many media targeting him, and he feels the malice from the American media.

Perhaps, the American media does not like to see a Chinese person in the NBA league in the limelight, if his character can be more low-key, maybe there will be less trouble.

"I need to win."

The best response to media accusations is to keep winning.

On the 13th, the Pistons host the Mavericks.

That morning, Zhou Quan saw a counterattack from the Detroit media at the dinner table.

The editor-in-chief of the Detroit Daily wrote on the front page: "Instead of blaming the Iron Fist, blame Michael Jordan."

At least Iron Fist has the second-best record in the East in Rodman's absence of 13 games, but what about the Flyers? He's still under our ass.

Doesn't Michael Jordan need to prove himself in basketball, but in betting? ”

This article immediately pushed Michael Jordan to the forefront, because since the beginning of the new season, there have been many media news breaking the news of Jordan's gambling.

Jordan's gambling is not news, but the current Jordan is not the Jordan of the past, the current Jordan is the sign of the league that is preparing for a triple championship, it can be said that Jordan and the Bulls have now become the public enemies of the league, who doesn't want to go up and step on it?

And the one who wants to step on Jordan the most is the media that wants sales.

As a result, the negative news about Jordan immediately occupied the front pages of major media outlets, and the first to attack was the New York media.

The Knicks are now first in the East and second in the league, and the Bulls are undoubtedly the Knicks' strongest opponent in the East, so the New York media did not let Jordan go and fired with all their might.

New York TV acted as a pioneer, and at noon it ran a related program, lashing out at Jordan's gambling behavior, and even the check on the two lone criminals last time was revealed.

As soon as New York TV got started, other New York media outlets followed.

The New York media represent the mainstream of the American media, and as soon as they move, the media across the United States immediately follow suit.

"Shet! These damn Detroit media, damn New York media......" Michael Jordan was angry but a little tired when he saw the news.

This season he has had the most negative press since entering the league, and the media has been staring at him, and in his senses, these media are even trying to ruin him.

That night, in the palace of Auburn Hills, Zhou Quan faced the bad team of calves and had an outbreak.

His opponent is Derek Harper, a 31-year-old veteran who is two centimeters taller than him but weighs six kilograms less than him, and has been selected to the All-Defensive Second Team twice, and although he is not an All-Star, he is very strong.

This season, he averaged 18 points, 6 assists and 1.6 steals per game, the data is good, but the shooting rate is less than 42%, the efficiency is low, there is a good three-point hand, and the reason for the reduction in efficiency is caused by injuries.

In the face of Derek Harper, Zhou Quan had no idea of keeping his hand at all, and in order to prove himself, he exploded with all his strength, using his weight advantage to crush his opponent and play a mismatch advantage.

A total of 21 shots were 11 of 52.3%, 1 of 3 three-pointers, 7 of 7 free throws, and 30 points, 6 rebounds, 16 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls.

After their 23rd victory, the Detroit Pistons traveled to Atlanta overnight, and the No. 14 will play back-to-back games against the Hawks.

At eight o'clock in the evening of the 14th, the two sides announced their starting lineups.

Pistons: Ronnie Secali, Terry Mills, Orlando Ulrich, Joe Dumas, Zhou Quan

Hawks: Cowan Keck, Kevin Willis, Stercy Ogmon, Wilkins, Murchibrilloke

Zhou Quan's opponent is Murkey Blaylock, who the Hawks only got this season, nicknamed the thief, with outstanding stealing ability, and will soon turn 26 years old, a very defensive opponent, averaging 2.5 steals per game this season.

Now Zhou Quan is averaging 3.3 steals per game, and Blayrock is only 0.8 less, which shows that the defensive strength is very strong, and he even has the ability to be selected for the best defensive team.

However, the shooting efficiency is average, 43% shooting, there was no three-point shooting before, and it was practiced in the offseason, and the three-point shooting rate is 37.5% this season.

This season, he averaged 13.4 points, 8.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, with a naked height of only 180 cm and a weight of only 82 kg.

At half past eight, the game began.

Jump ball, Eagles attack.

Blaylock received the ball, Zhou Quan blocked the front, the former did not hesitate, and immediately gave Wilkins who wanted the ball, and immediately bypassed Joe Dumas to the right wing after receiving the ball, and shot a three-pointer outside the three-point line.

Joe Dumas was a little caught off guard, he didn't expect Wilkins to shoot so fast.

"Brush!"

The water splashed, and the ball was hit.

Zhou Quan also knew Wilkins, after all, he was one of the three active flyers, and it was worth knowing about him.

Wilkins likes to shoot three-pointers, but in fact, his three-point shooting rate is not accurate, and he only shot 28.9% last season, but this season I don't know if he practiced or was lucky, and his shooting rate increased to 38%, averaging 4.5 three-pointers per game, hitting 1.7.

If Wilkins shoots three points today, it will also be very troublesome, because the most powerful thing about this guy is to break through and score, if Joe Dumas doesn't shoot and break through, Wilkins will definitely strengthen the breakthrough, and Rodman is not there, whether it is Secali and Mills, the defense is not very good, how can the interior line be defended?

He took the ball and began to push forward, and Blaylock leaned down in front of him and defended back.

Blaylock's attention is very focused, Iron Fist is now getting more and more famous, and in his second season, he has become one of the best point guards in the league, and he is far more well-known than several other first-class point guards, and if he can take advantage of Iron Fist today, he will definitely be able to win the attention of the media.

He thinks that his speed and agility are stronger than Iron Fist, so he aimed at Zhou Quan's ball and wanted to break the ball, if he could break Iron Fist's ball and hit a counterattack, he would have a chance to shine.

Judging from the opponent's attitude and momentum, Zhou Quan knew that the short man in front of him didn't have any good ideas, and he also raised his vigilance.

With your left elbow in front of you, you hold the ball in your right hand and start to push forward.

"Damn it!"

Blaylock was trying to force it, but now he lost the opportunity, and in the face of Zhou Quan's crushing advance, he had no power to resist at all.

"Bang!"

Zhou Quan collided with his strength, directly knocked away the opponent, accelerated and rushed over, crossed the midline in two steps, and continued to accelerate to the top of the arc.

Now that his pull-up jumper level has gone up, he can also use his step-back jumper, so he can push faster than he did last season.

If the opponent can't immediately establish a second line of defense after breaking through the first line of defense, he can go straight into it and form a strong impact on the basket.

If the opponent can establish a second line of defense right away, his pull-up jump shot and passing can also be useful.

The more obvious change is that his first goal is no longer to pass the ball, but to score through his own attack with the ball, and then to press the opponent's defense with the ball and create opportunities for his teammates.

Now his positioning template is more of a former assassin than last season's self, which is in line with the team's wishes, and the Pistons just want him to be the next assassin.

When he hit the top of the arc, the opponent didn't establish a second line of defense at the free throw line, so he hit the free throw line in two steps and made a pull-up jump shot.

Blaylock, who was catching up from behind, then made a sharp stop, but was also half a beat slower, and with the lack of height, he did not complete the defense.

The defender under the basket wanted to come out to make up for it, but it was too late, so he could only watch him shoot.

"Brush!"

There was no defender in front of him, and he hit a two-point shot.

When it was the Pistons' turn to attack, Blaylock smoothly held the ball and moved forward, and Zhou Quan did not rush to press in the backcourt.

But just when the opponent crossed the halfway line, he seized the opportunity to suddenly close to the press, long arms, coupled with strong confrontation power, forced Blaylock to be a little untenable, he could no longer retreat, had to turn around to protect the ball, and formed a ball, can no longer dribble.

Jo Dumas saw the opportunity and immediately pounced to form a trap, knocked out Blaylock's ball, and completed the steal.

"Bang!"

Zhou Quan counterattacked, received a pass from Joe Dumas, turned 360 degrees in the air, and then smashed the ball into the basket.

The purpose of stealing Zhou Quan was not achieved, but he was cut off the ball, Blaylock was unwilling, he was very confident in his defense and stealing ability, and decided to return one no matter what.

This time, he carefully pushed the ball to the halfway line, and suddenly a change of direction accelerated, killing from the left wing.

Zhou Quan chased after him, and without the idea of going over, he only stuck to the right side of Blaylock, forcing him to control the ball with his left hand, and then forced to the left sideline.

In the strong confrontation, Blaylock couldn't bear it, and was forced to move to the left sideline, while Zhou Quan locked his right wing, and the direction of his pass to the weak side was also locked, very passive, and finally passed to the small forward Stercy Ogmon who came to pick up.

Ogmund passed to Kevin Wesley, who received the ball low on the left wing, hit Mills with his back, turned and hit a jumper.

The Pistons attacked, and when Zhou Quan was about to receive the ball, Blayrock immediately went around the front defense to prevent him from receiving the ball.

But Zhou Quan's response was very simple, he directly confronted him, pasted it, and elbowed Blaylock, who had no strength to resist at all and was squeezed to the side.

After receiving the ball smoothly, Zhou Quan immediately turned around and advanced at full speed, Blaylock chased after him, but his speed was also limited, where could he still catch up?

"Bang!"

At this time, the Eagles had not had time to settle inside, Zhou Quan scored from the right elbow area, and Kevin Willis, who had just run to the front left side of the basket, saw that he was fierce, and it was too late to go up.

"Joe, let's join forces and lock this guy down, he's the biggest threat to the Eagles."

Zhou Quan shouted at Jo Dumas, blinked, and then pointed at Blaylock.

"Iron Fist, Wilkins is the biggest threat." Jo Dumas honestly reminded.

"No, Joe, Wilkins can only score, he's not a threat, as long as we lock the Eagles' pass buttons, we're not far from winning." Zhou Quan insisted.

"Yes."

Zhou Quan insisted, but Jo Dumas didn't insist and agreed.

The two of them said this in front of Wilkins, and he was so angry that his eyes rolled up, is this looking down on him? So then, he took over the ball and started attacking with all his might.

The result can be imagined, he only knows that he shoots, he doesn't care whether his teammates have a vacant position, and his ability to organize the offense is limited, even if he scored 36 points in the game, but the shooting rate was only 38.5%, and the Eagles lost the game without suspense.

Zhou Quan made 5 steals in the game, Joe Dumas 3, and the duo made 8 steals, 5 of which were steals from Wilkins.

Wilkins controlled possession of the ball and made nine turnovers, and head coach Bob Weiss was dark at the end of the game.

At this time, the general manager of the Hawks on the scene, Weiss, had an idea, which surprised him, because he actually had the idea of trading the team's boss Wilkins.

"You two boys, did you do it on purpose?"

When he got off the field, Wilkins angrily shouted at Zhou Quan and Joe Dumas.

"What deliberately?"

Zhou Quan smiled: "Do you mean that we deliberately provoked you and strengthened your bag after you concentrated the ball?"

So I'll tell you, yes, that's it, you're in control of the ball, not only do you destroy your team's organization, but then we can also reduce your shooting percentage by wrapping up, and the more you shoot and the more you score, the more the Eagles lose. ”

"Humph!"

Wilkington snorted and walked away.

"Haha......"

Zhou Quan and Joe Dumas burst out laughing.

Seeing this scene, Weiss's desire to trade Wilkins became even stronger.

Blaylock, who was standing on the side, had a feeling of powerlessness and unwillingness, he was good at defense and organization, and the offense was average, but today Wilkins stripped him of the ball, so he didn't have the opportunity to organize the offense, and he didn't defend Zhou Quan, so the performance at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends was very poor, and it was far from what he wanted to achieve before the game.

(End of chapter)