The next morning, on the 16th, the Pistons held a tactical meeting.

Zhou Quan rushed to the headquarters with his luggage in the morning, and after the meeting, the piston would depart.

On the 7th, the East Finals were played, starting from the 8th, the team then took a five-day vacation, and began to resume training on the 13th.

It can be said that the East Finals ended with 4 to 1, and the West Finals hit a tie-break, which won a very big physical advantage for the Pistons.

Not to mention Zhou Quan, even if he is an assassin, he is recovering well.

Although he plays the main force, he does not take on many tasks on the field, and the physical consumption is not so great, and he can still persevere.

Assistant coach Rick Musk first introduced the Suns' lineup and said: "The main lineup, center Mark West, is a role player with limited ability, but he is only a pseudo-starter.

Their backup center is rookie Oliver Miller, the No. 22 pick in the first round last year, 206 cm tall, the tonnage should now exceed 130 kg, the density is very large, the strength is average, and the No. 5 position is a weak position for the Suns. ”

"Which of us is going to carry him?" Rodman asked, shaking his head.

"Dennis, I suggest you don't have to carry him hard, you can use your experience to influence his shooting after you top it, he doesn't have much right to shoot, the Suns would rather let the outside player shoot three points than give the ball to a rookie." Musk said.

Rodman laughed and said, "Maybe it's because the No. 5 position is not good, that's why they shoot so many threes?" If Ewing is inside, he must be the Suns' go-to shot, just like the Knicks. ”

"Makes sense." Zhou Quan nodded and smiled.

Musk continued: "No. 4, Barkley, flying flying pigs, this is not much to say, there is no one who does not understand his strength." ”

Everyone nodded, and he continued: "He averaged 37.6 minutes per game in the regular season and increased his playing time to 43 minutes in the playoffs, so I won't introduce the backup power forward."

In the No. 3 position, Richard and Ceballos rotated in the regular season, and in the playoffs, Richard started more and played more minutes.

Let's mainly talk about Richard, who averaged 28 minutes per game in the regular season, 16 points, 5 rebounds and 1.8 steals, and 22 minutes in the playoffs, 11 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.9 steals, and his performance was not as good as in the regular season.

He doesn't have three-pointers, he has mid-range shots, and he has a great ability to hit the basket. By the way, by the way, Ceballos, who has a similar style of play to him, also does not have three points.

It just so happens that the number three is a weak position for us, so we have to pay attention to these two players, of course they don't have three points to help us defend, and we can narrow down the range to deal with their breakaways. ”

Zhou Quan said: "We don't have anyone in the third position, or is Qiao here to fight?" ”

Max nodded, "I'll talk about that later." ”

Zhou Quan nodded and didn't speak again, and Musk continued: "The guard combination, Lei Gongdan Marley, Lightning Kevin Johnson.

Musk continued: "The Lightning suffered a serious injury in the regular season, but he did well in the playoffs, and no matter who defends him, he can't be careless.

Dan Marley is mediocre in talent, but he is a fierce defender, with both he and the Chargers both making 1.7 steals in the regular season and 1.5 in each playoff game, and he also has a very good three-point hand.

His ability to break through with the ball is not as good as that of the Lightnings, but the Lightnings do not have three points, so his defensive difficulty is no less than that of the Lightnings. ”

"Isaiah defends him?" Zhou Quan's brows furrowed slightly.

What the magician said last night still made a lot of sense, and he didn't think that the assassins could protect against lightning and thunder.

The assassin himself shook his head, he was only 185 cm, Lei Gong was 198 cm, he lost his speed again, the offensive end would be prevented from death, the defensive end would be blown up, and if lightning was prevented, it would be burst into a sieve.

After the briefing, Chuck Daly stood up and waited for everyone's attention to come and said, "Now let me announce the starting lineup for G1. ”

Marc Aguirre's eyes fluctuated for a moment, and he felt that he might be in the starting line-up.

He wasn't excited, because Rodman's starting spot was given up two seasons ago, and he was the main small forward before that.

"Ronnie Secali, Rodman, Mark Aguirre......"

"Congratulations, Mark."

"Thank you!"

Mark Aguirre smiled and high-fived the outstretched Assassin next to him.

It is a recognition for him to be able to start in the finals, and the manager thinks he is still a little oily, which is also quite happy for him.

“…… Joe Dumas, Zhou Quan. ”

Chuck Daley finished reading the starting line-up and then began to explain the tactics.

"We're a bit similar to the Suns, their guard line has a lot of offensive duty, our guard line has a heavier offensive mission, they have Barkley on the inside, our Secali can score as well, so to win against the Suns, you have to strengthen the defense first."

Chuck Daly first emphasized defense, saying: "Barkley hands over to Rodman, and when he pulls Rodman out, Sekari has to control the rebound.

The lightning handed over to Iron Fist to suppress his fast break, and we beat the Knicks with the fast break, but we couldn't plant it on the Suns' fast break.

Dan Marley was dealt with by Joe Dumas, watch out for his three-point shots, but also watch out for his breaks, especially after Barkley pulled Rodman out, and our interior defense couldn't help the outside. ”

Secali is a bit embarrassed, and my defense isn't that bad, averaging 1.5 caps and 0.5 steals per game in the playoffs.

Chuck Daley continued: "The Suns' offense is Barkley, who can shoot inside and out, and has a lot of three-point shots, averaging 2.3 times per game in the Western Conference, and Rodman must follow him.

In addition to Barkley, it is mainly the Lightning's ball-holding breakthrough ball, so the key to our defense is this point, and Iron Fist must keep up with him. ”

"Leave it to me." Zhou Quan was full of confidence.

He is a little bit worse in speed, counting the physical advantage, it is not even bad, it may be a little slower at the beginning, but as the game progresses, the speed advantage of the lightning must not be maintained.

And the basketball court is not a 100-meter track, sometimes explosiveness is very important, his tonnage is 8 kilograms heavier than lightning, explosive power is definitely stronger than lightning, strong explosive power, can allow him to speed up in a shorter time.

Chuck Daley continued: "Limiting the Lightning, we're a third of the way we've defended the Suns. The remaining third is for Barkley to defend and the last third for their long-range shots.

Even if we can't stop Barkley, we have to guard against the lightning, against their three-pointers, which is very important for us and key to defense.

But Barkley must not let him go crazy, he must not let him play 40+20 in the tie-break, Dennis, do you understand? ”

"Don't worry, Daddy." Rodman grinned.

Chuck Daly began to explain offensive tactics again, saying: "On the offensive end, we are actually similar to the Suns, mainly with Iron Fist's holding of the ball and breaking through the ball, and they will definitely strengthen the defense of Iron Fist, and even wrap up."

Zhou, in terms of the two options of individual shooting and passing, I hope you do a better job and be more reasonable, shoot when you need to shoot, and pass the ball when you should pass. ”

"Understood."

Zhou Quan nodded.

Of course, it can't be relied on by him, and Jordan can't be so strong, let alone him? Physical fitness alone limits individual offense, and the whole team must be on board to defeat the opponent.

After the meeting, at 10:30 a.m., the Pistons set off for Phoenix and began their journey to the Finals.

The flight distance of 3,300 kilometers, the plane took off at 11:40, flew for 4 hours, and when I got on the bus at the airport, it was close to 5 o'clock, and after arriving at the hotel and settling down, it was a quarter past 6 o'clock, so I did not arrange a press conference, and after a hurried dinner, I rested.

Zhou Quan called a reasonable button, and then called over there after a few minutes.

"Brother Zhang, you guys arrived, didn't you stay in a motel?"

"I just arrived, I live in a family hotel in a community, the conditions are OK, and the safety should be fine, hehe."

"Okay, haven't you had dinner yet, I'll order you a takeout, how about the pizza?"

"No, no, let's just go out and eat a burger by ourselves."

"Alright, rest well."

"Xiao Zhou, you have a good rest, and strive to get off to a good start tomorrow."

"Haha......"

After a few words, he hung up.

The next morning, after breakfast, the Pistons arranged a brief press conference at the request of the media.

There were a lot of media outlets, including CCTV, as well as reporters from Xiangcheng ATV, as well as some Japanese and South Korean reporters.

The first to be flopped was a New York Times reporter, whose words had nothing to do with the finals, saying: "Iron Fist, did you see the news from the Salt Lake City media, it was this morning, it was said that the postman had applied for a California boxing license. ”

"Oh, good news! It was a pleasant surprise for me. Zhou Quan said with a smile.

"Have you been contacted by your agent?" The reporter asked.

"Not yet, but I'm looking forward to fighting the Postman in the ring, and I'll let the agent follow up on that." He said.

He really contacted Philip immediately after the press conference, and Philip said: "The postman has already contacted me, Zhou, it seems that the postman really wants to be beaten by you again." ”

Zhou Quan laughed, and Philip said: "I'm talking to the WBC here, you shouldn't have any difficulty dealing with the postman, just with his explosiveness and agility, you can make him a hundred punches, and he is a target for you in the ring, so I want to arrange the boxing match between you and him after the finals, before you go back to China, what do you think?" ”

"Yes."

"Besides, Zhou, your real opponent already has eyebrows."

"Oh, who is it?"

"Andrew Golotta, a Pole, nicknamed the Polish Bad Boy."

Philip then gave a brief introduction to Golotta's profile.

At the age of 25, he practiced boxing at the age of 13, won the Polish national championship 7 times, won the bronze medal at the Seoul Olympics, and then turned into professional boxing, came to the United States in 91 to develop, and is currently ranked 22nd in the WBC world, 25th in the WBO, and 19th in the WBA.

……

On June 17, 1993, the NBA League 92/93 Season Finals officially kicked off.

The Meixi Arena was only put into use last year, and it can accommodate more than 18,000 people, and the audience seats are already full before 7 o'clock.

The Pistons came with less than 300 fans, they are not only die-hard fans of the Pistons, but they all belong to people with small net worth, otherwise there is no money to support the team away from home, finals tickets, 4-hour round-trip flight tickets are not cheap, plus a few days of room and board, not a small expense.

The Grand Final Series was broadcast nationwide on ABC TV and featured Bill Wharton and Lewis Williams.

Williams looked at the scene through the lens of ABC and said: "With such a small number of away fans, there are more than 18,000 Suns fans, will the morale of the visiting team be affected?" ”

Bill Wharton shook his head and said: "This is the sadness of the small ball market, the ball market in Detroit is getting smaller and smaller, playing in the East, the distance is close, there will be more fans going to the away game, the West is too far, the cost is too high."

As for morale, it doesn't matter, the Pistons will come with so many people, and when they go back to Detroit, they will definitely only give the Suns so many away tickets. ”

At eight o'clock, the two sides announced their starting lineups.

Pistons: Ronnie Se Cali, Dennis Rodman, Mark Aguirre, Joe Dumas, Zhou Quan

Suns: Mark West, Charles Barkley, Richard, Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson

Bill Walton immediately analyzed after getting the list: "Look, Lewis, the Pistons really can't do anything at the No. 3 position, Mark Aguirre is old and injured, and like the Assassins, he should just be a pseudo-starter." ”

Williams said: "The key to today's game is Rodman's defense, whether Barkley can play in form, and the battle between lightning and iron fists, the number one position, the number four position, is the key position for both sides. ”

Nodding, Bill Wharton said: "That's right, in terms of playing consistency, Iron Fist is more stable than Barkley, even if he plays against the Lightning, I still think he has the advantage, which is why I am more optimistic about the Pistons." ”

Williams also nodded: "Iron Fist is not weak in the face of Jordan, that is a flying man who has walked to the pinnacle, and the pressure of lightning should not be small." ”

At this time, the home team's dressing room is making final preparations.

The head coach is Paul Westphal, a rookie on the Green team, who played three years with the Green team and four years with the Suns before returning to the Suns to retire without choosing the Green team.

This season is also Westphal's first time as a head coach and belongs to the rookie in the coaching world.

He was very lucky to reach the finals in his first year, but the pressure on him was also enormous.

Wiping the sweat on his forehead, he said to Barkley and the other five starters: "Don't be nervous, we have to play the G1 game as a tie-break, the first home game, we must not lose it." ”

Barkley's legs were shaking, and he couldn't hold it down.

The first time he tasted the finals, he was a little nervous.

Lightning Kevin Johnson's hands are shaking, he is also a first-time Finals player, and he has little experience.

As the league's top point guard, but his luck is not good, he is in the same era as Magic Johnson, and there are assist kings like John Stoughton in the West, and there are rising stars like Bugs, and he doesn't get any hard honors.

There were only two All-Star All-Stars, only one start, three All-Second Team, one All-Three Team, one All-Month All-Player, and then the Most Improved Player of '89, played six seasons, and that's it.

Therefore, for this finals, his expectations are very big, he hopes to win the championship, or even FMVP.

This time, the opponent Iron Fist, although he was only in the second year, gave him a lot of pressure, very much pressure, a lot of pressure.

Just relying on Zhou Quan to knock down 27 points, 10 assists and 4.5 steals on the head of Flyer Jordan, and just relying on Zhou Quan to eliminate Jordan, it can have a huge pressure on him that can affect his mentality.

Until now, he was about to play, and his chest was still pressing on an invisible boulder, making his breathing a little heavy.

None of the Suns' five starters has played in the Finals, and the mood at this time is average, nervous, sweaty palms, and no one speaks.

Paul Westphaal has some regrets and should have started Danny Angie, the only veteran of the Suns with Finals experience.

"It's time!"

The door was suddenly pushed open, and the voice of the staff startled Barkley and the others, and the five quickly got up and walked out the door.

(End of chapter)