At this time, assistant coach Musk pushed the door in and said: "The other game is out, the SuperSonics beat Mosaic at home, 90:99." The superSonics offense is really strong, with six players scoring 10+, two of them 20+. ”

The Assassin said: "I think these four teams in the West are about the same strength, and they should be in a tough battle, maybe in the second round there will be a tie-break." ”

Jo Dumas smiled bitterly: "We are about the same in the east. ”

No one in the locker room was talking about the Eastern Conference finals and the Finals, because the opponents in the second round were too strong to beat the powerful defending champion Bulls, and they were not qualified to talk about the series later.

The G3 game between the Bulls and the Pistons will be held on the 14th, and the next day, at noon on the 12th, the Pistons returned to Detroit.

That night, the Suns lost to the Spurs for the second time at home, and the Knicks also lost to the Cavaliers twice at home.

Barkley averaged 43.2 minutes per game in the first-round series, 27.6 points, 14.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.6 blocks, 1.2 turnovers and 2 fouls, but with his superstar status, he can only be said to be barely good, because the shooting rate is only 47.7%, as an interior player, it is a little lower, lower than the efficiency of the regular season, and lower than the efficiency of the previous playoffs.

However, in this game, he was strong, shooting 66.7% from the field, scoring 35 points and 10 rebounds, and having 7 key steals, which was very exciting on both offensive and defensive ends.

Speaking to the media, Barkley, who has won two in a row, was very excited: "We have adapted to the atmosphere of the playoffs, we are ready, we are on the road to the championship. ”

On the morning of the 13th, the Pistons held a tactical meeting and arranged in-team training in the afternoon.

At the tactical meeting, Chuck Daley analyzed the situation of the G2 battle, saying: "The biggest problem we are facing now is the problem of Iron Fist being caught on the outside, they mainly use Pippen to help defend and pinch and empty Ulrich, and Ulrich is not a big threat on the outside, his long-range shooting ability is not good, and he can't play an efficient offensive efficiency with a little space."

They've tasted the sweetness, and they're sure to continue to do so in G3, and they'll use Pippen to pinch the Iron Fist from the outside, speeding up the tempo and forcing us to play our own offensive tactics.

Especially the inside cut tactic, we don't have the ability to attack in the low post, we need the inside cut to improve the quality of the attack under the basket, if we can't play the inside cut strategy, we will be very difficult.

My idea is that from the very beginning, before Pippen is pinched, Ulrich goes to the low post and presses Pippen in the low post to make it harder for him to pinch the shot.

Sekari, your mid-range shot is good, pull up to the high position, do the blocking and pick-and-roll for the iron fist, and at the same time do the strategy. If their inside line comes out and wraps up with Jordan with Iron Fist, Iron Fist should be able to solve it, right? ”

"No problem."

Zhou Quan nodded, as long as it wasn't Jordan + Pippen's pinch, a relatively clumsy center came out to pinch, there was not enough threat to him at all, with the ability of full-level panoramic vision, he could even use the opponent's center's obstacle to get rid of Jordan.

Sekari was a little worried, because he wasn't very good at responding.

That night, the SuperSonics beat Mosaic again at home to make it two wins in a row.

Big Dream shot just 8-of-22 in the first game, shooting 36.4 percent, scoring 26 points and losing the game. In this game, he shot 13 of 24, shot 54.2%, and scored 28 points, but still lost the game.

His performance tonight was not bad, but he still lost, so he was very aggrieved.

But tonight, the SuperSonics shot 9-of-12 from three-point range, shooting 75 percent, and all his efforts were directly in vain.

Also that night, Roger Phillip received a call from Kings general manager Athos Rochel in Los Angeles.

Rochel got straight to the point, saying, "Mr. Philip, we haven't tasted the playoffs for seven seasons, and we're desperate to make the playoffs, and we'd love to see Iron Fist join the Kings and lead us to the playoffs, and we can give anything for that."

We can even promise to give Iron Fist a big contract of 100 million yuan, which will definitely not be worse than Larry Johnson's contract, and we can negotiate other conditions, we are very sincere.

Iron Fist will be the core of the team, the only core, and we will trade the original core Richmond, who will be a trade chip. ”

Philip felt a toothache, you have a big breath, how many wins are you this season, definitely not more than thirty, and then trade away Richmond, what lineup can be left, Iron Fist joins you, it is likely to fall into a deep pit.

He asked tentatively, "Mr. Rochelle, what is your regular season record this season?" ”

Rochelle said with some embarrassment: "25-57." ”

He was embarrassed to say anything, and he had no confidence at all, because the Kings have not won more than 30 games in 7 consecutive seasons, including five seasons under 25 games, and everyone knows that the Kings are a bad team.

They are 11th in the West this season, third from the bottom, and are about to go to the league lottery ceremony, and such a bad team wants to recruit Iron Fist, which is indeed seriously lacking.

Iron Fist can stay with the Pistons, and with the current lineup of the Pistons, as long as the state of Joe Dumas and Rodman can be maintained, they will have the strength to impact the Eastern Conference finals.

Philip also did not directly refuse, because he did not have the right to refuse, Iron Fist's contract has not ended, which team the Pistons want to trade with, that is a matter for management, with Iron Fist's current status, he is not qualified to interfere in his own deal.

The main reason why Rochel and other team managers contacted him was to communicate with Iron Fist in case other problems arose after the trade.

As a native of California, he still knows Sacramento very well, the capital of California, the former gold rush land, has a small population, only four or five hundred thousand, not as good as the population of Detroit.

Nearly half of the people are white, and nearly 100,000 are Asian, including 20,000 or 30,000 Chinese, which is relatively beneficial to Zhou Quan, and the city's economy is not bad, and the consumption power is good.

In addition, there is only the NBA Kings in the city, there are no teams in other sports, and the fans are very uniform, and there is no second option.

However, because the Kings have a poor record and attendance is not good, the Warriors, who are 130 kilometers away from Sacramento, have reached the playoffs four times in the past seven seasons and three times in the second round, so fans would rather drive to watch the Warriors' games than watch the Kings' games.

As far as he knows, the Warriors failed to make the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons before the 86/87 season, and then Chris Mullin grew up, and it only got better over the years, and it used to be a big bad team.

On May 14th, the second round continues, and there will be two G3 games that night, the Bulls vs. the Pistons, and the Suns vs. Spurs.

At eight o'clock, the substitutes came off the bench to warm up, and the two sides announced their starting lineups.

Bulls: Scott Williams, Hores Grant, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, John Paxson

Pistons: Ronnie Secali, Dennis Rodman, Orlando Ulrich, Joe Dumas, Zhou Quan

On the ABC commentary bench, Bill Wharton said: "I don't know how the two teams will play in this game, in the first two games, they both played better, G1 vs. Pistons took the tactical initiative, and then G2 played the other way around." ”

Lewis Williams said: "The Pistons lost on the court, Iron Fist was caught by Pippen on the outside was the most important reason, and Ulrich's poor play was also a big reason, he didn't take advantage of his open opportunities and wasted a lot of chances.

Of course, this is also the reason why the Bulls' defensive system is strong, their rotation defense is quite fast, and they only give Ulrich a small space each time, plus his mid-to-long-range shooting ability is average, and the inside cut tactics can't be played, so the efficiency is very low. ”

Bill Wharton nodded: "Ulrich is only a threat when he hits the basket, and when he is away from the basket, he loses his containment, so Pippen is relieved and bold to wrap the iron fist."

When Ulrich was with the Bulls, it was precisely because his style of play was not complementary to Jordan that he was traded. ”

"Shh

At this time, the away team came out, and the boos of the Auburn Hills Palace soared upwards like a tornado, and Jordan and the other five completed the game with terrifying boos.

"No force can stop us from ruling here, ruling the palace of Auburn Hills, this is our destiny." Jordan yelled at his teammates amid boos.

"Oh roar!"

The home team came out, and the earth-shattering cheers, shouts, and applause rang out like a sea of mountains.

It was 9 a.m. in China, after breakfast, and countless sports fans turned on the TV at home.

The first two games of the second round did not fall into the weekend, and today is Saturday, and there are a lot of people who watch the game, and they are not necessarily basketball fans, but they are willing to watch Zhou Quan's game.

At Zhou Quan's house, Zhou Jianguo invited a group of friends who were close to Tie to come to his house to watch the game, and a lot of melon seeds, peanuts, braised vegetables, and beer were prepared on the coffee table.

When Zhou Quan was studying abroad, in order to make up for the tuition, none of these friends ran away, and they came to the door with a cheeky face, otherwise he would not have the ability to send Zhou Quan to the United States.

Now the car at home is not in his hands for most of the time, this friend borrowed it to drive for a few days, that classmate borrowed it to drive it for a few days, and even the leaders of the unit asked him to borrow a car to drive.

……

At half past eight, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the game began.

"Smack!"

Sekari jumped up and flicked the ball away first.

Joe Dumas received the ball and handed it to Zhou Quan, who came over, Zhou Quan held Jordan, did not go to the left wing, did not go to the right wing, and advanced directly to the top of the arc.

In the last game, he was at the top of the arc, Pippen was waiting for an opportunity to come and attack, he went to the right wing, Pippen was in the high position, also waiting for an opportunity to pinch him, and in the end he had 5 turnovers throughout the game.

"It's still a defensive tactic on the field."

Now, near the top of the arc, Pippen on the left flank is on the inside of Ulrich, two meters away from Ulrich, only two steps away from him, cutting off the passing line between him and Ulrich, and maintaining the possibility of coming and flanking at any time.

In the last game, at this time, Ulrich will cut inside, Pippen will follow, but it is always between him and Ulrich, at this time Jordan will interfere with his concentration, and at the same time lock his downward passing angle, Pippen will immediately come over to strike, and he can't pass the ball to Ulrich in time, the inside cut tactic can't be played, and the vacancy can't be used.

At this moment, Ulrich moved to the left wing in a low position according to the tactical requirements, and directly stuck to the baseline.

When Pippen saw it, he could only move to the low post, staying in the left waist position, or cutting off the passing angle of Zhou Quan and Ulrich.

But he knows it's a bit of trouble, and it's impossible to go up to cover Zhou Quan in this position, because Ulrich's position is too close to the basket, and he can dunk after receiving the ball, and Grant is on the right side of the basket, and it's too late to make up for the defense, how dare he let it go?

At the same time, Sekari lifted up and brought Williams up.

At this time, when the Pistons players were running, Jordan tried his best to lock Zhou Quan's downward passing angle, Ulrich couldn't receive the ball at this time, and Zhou Quan could only pass the ball to the right wing, allowing Joe Dumas to single John Paxson.

The next moment, Secali stood to Jordan's right.

Zhou Quan quickly activated, bypassing Sekari behind him, and then from the outside around Williams, who was following him, and slashing towards the left elbow.

Jordan turned around and tried to chase after Sekari, but as soon as he went around, he was blocked by Williams, who broke through from the outside, and he was separated by a Williams in the middle, and he was freed.

Zhou Quan took two steps to the left end of the free throw line, and Pippen had no second choice but to come up to make up for the defense.

And just as Pippen moved up, Zhou Quan suddenly jumped forward, threw the ball forward, and the basketball flew over Pippen's head and flew to the left side of the basket.

While Pippen was up for defense, Ulrich started to kick in, cutting in low from the left flank and then jumping to see the ball flying over.

On the right side of the basket, Grant, who was blocking Dennis Rodman, hurried to defend Ulrich, but where was the time?

"Bang!"

Ulrich caught the ball in the air with both hands and smashed it to blow up the Bulls' basket.

"Woo!"

The cheers of the Auburn Hills palace immediately burst into flames.

"Beautiful! Empty catch, iron fist assists Ulrich! The on-site commentator, bearded John Loweis, yelled excitedly.

"High pick-and-roll tactics."

Phil Jackson, who was sitting on the bench, saw the ball of the Pistons clearly, and his mind was spinning rapidly, thinking of countermeasures.

"The Pistons played a high-post pick-and-roll strategy, and the Bulls didn't have a chance to wrap up the iron fist just now, and they couldn't see their defensive tactics today. Now let's look at the Pistons' defensive tactics, will they wrap Jordan on the outside like the Bulls did on the court? Bill Wharton said.

At this point, John Paxson pushed the ball to the top of the arc and Joe Dumas defended.

Jordan moved from outside the three-point line on the right wing to the top of the arc, and Zhou Quan followed very closely.

At this time, Paxson gave the ball to Pippen on the left wing, and Pippen burst through Ulrich with the ball, hit the left midfield, and passed.

As soon as Jordan reached the top of the arc, Paxson covered and blocked Zhou Quan, Jordan immediately bypassed Paxson, and then bypassed Joe Dumas at the top of the arc, accelerated his speed and moved to the left wing, and Joe Dumas could only change defenses.

At this time, Pippen passed the ball to Jordan, Jordan received the ball and made a quick stop jumper, but Joe Dumas was half a beat slow and didn't catch up.

"Brush!"

The water splashed and the two hits.

"This ball was played very patiently."

Bill Wharton praised: "Jordan moved from the right wing to the left wing to catch the ball, and both Iron Fist and Joe Dumas were thrown off. ”

Williams laughed: "No defense is as effective as a pick-and-roll, Joe Dumas was half a beat slower to react, and the change of defense was slow." ”

"Ulrich's awareness of supplementation is not enough, the place where Jordan catches the ball is behind him, he lost Pippen, and when he sees Jordan coming, he should make up for it." Bill Wharton said.

Pistons offense.

Zhou Quan still held the ball at the top of the arc, and Secali came up to block and dismantle in the high post, but Pippen still didn't have a chance to come up and cover him.

This time, Scott Williams made his own decision, and after following Secali up, when Zhou Quan broke through with the ball, when Jordan had not bypassed Sekari and Zhou Quan, he directly changed the defense.

Zhou Quan reacted very quickly, and when he saw Williams following him, he immediately pulled towards the left flank.

Jordan had just bypassed Secali and was about to chase Zhou Quan, when he saw that Williams had changed his guard, Zhou Quan went to the left wing, and had to stay in front of Sekari and did not dare to let go.

As soon as Zhou Quan arrived on the left wing, he suddenly began to break through with the ball, and when Williams retreated, he suddenly pulled back, and under the instinctive reaction of his body, Williams sat on the floor with his back on the ground.

"Haha......"

The palace in Auburn Hills resounded with the laughter of Pistons fans.

Except for Williams on the floor, there was no defender within three meters of him, Zhou Quan closed the ball and began to aim at the basket, very calmly.

At this time, whether it was Jordan in the high position or Pippen in the left waist position, they were in an embarrassing state, and it was too late to come over to make up for the defense, so they could only watch Zhou Quan look at the basket there.

"What to aim, you vote!" Jordan snorted coldly in his heart.

"Brush!"

The water splashed and hit a two-point shot.

The palace of Auburn Hills applauded thunderously, and in the midst of a huge cheer, Jordan ran up to Williams, pulled him up, hooked his teammates' necks and shouted in his ear: "Scott, remember, don't change guards, you can't deal with that guy." ”

Williams nodded, not daring to say anything.

(End of chapter)