"Congratulations, Iron Fist, the scoring king, the assist king, and the steal king are going to be monopolized by you again." Rodman grinned.

"We lost the rebounding title." Zhou Quan said with a smile.

"The rebounding champion is Mutombo's, averaging 14.1 per game. Big Ben is one short, only 13.1. The king of blocks is Mourning's, 3.7. Assistant coach McMillan said with a smile.

He then added: "We had a team of double-doubles, Iron Fist 32.5, Ruben Patterson 12.8, Brent Barry 10.5, Corey Magetti 10.2, Elden Campbell 11.1, Brad Miller 5.8, Ben Wallace 5.1, Thorpe 4.2, Rashad Lewis 4.1, Bowen 2.5, Shamond Williams 2.1, Rodman 2.3, Fred Vinson 1.1. ”

Speaking of this, he paused, took a breath, and then said, "We have a total of five players scoring in double figures, and the average score per game is 104.3 points.

Four of them are the main players, and the five main players scored 68.4 points, accounting for 65.6%. The bench scored 35.9 points, accounting for 34.4%.

We rank second in the West in points per game, below the Kings' 105 points and above the Lakers, who are third in the West, with 100.8 points.

The Pistons are first in scoring per game with 103.5 points in the East, followed by the Pacers with 101.3 points, followed by the Bucks and Magic. ”

After taking a sip of water, he continued: "We are conceding 90.6 points per game, second in the West, first in the Spurs, and the Lakers 92.3 points, fifth in the West.

In the Eastern Conference, the Knicks are averaging 90.7 points per game, the Heat 91.3 points, and the Pacers, who have the best record, 96.7 points. ”

"Nate, where's the rebound?" Zhou Quan asked.

McMillanza looked at the stats and said, "We're 46.8, second in the West, and Lakers 47, first. The Eastern Eagles have 45.3, the first in the East. ”

Zhou Quan nodded, Rodman let him fish and paddle in the regular season, and in the playoffs, he should have a bit of an advantage over the Lakers in rebounding.

McMillan said: "Now let's talk about the East and West regular season standings. East, Pacers, Heat, Knicks, Hornets, Philadelphia, Raptors, Pistons, Bucks. The West is the SuperSonics, Lakers, Trail Blazers, Jazz, Spurs, Suns, Timberwolves, Kings. ”

"Playoffs first round matchups, West, vs. Kings, Jazz vs. Spurs, Lakers vs. Timberwolves, Trail Blazers vs. Suns.

East, Pacers vs. Bucks, Philadelphia vs. Hornets, Heat vs. Pistons, Knicks vs. Raptors. ”

Zhou Quan followed McMillan's words and said: "We played the Kings in the first round, and the winner of the Jazz and the Spurs in the second round, and the Spurs lost Duncan, so we mostly played the Jazz in the second round." ”

"Sir again? That is to say, are we going to the West again? Rodman looked surprised, then burst out laughing.

Ben Wallace's group of young players were also very excited, and Thorpe, who came for the championship, was so excited that his face was smiling.

At this time, the head coach Paul Westaphal smiled and said: "Okay, gentlemen, the first round starts on the 22nd, we start on the 23rd, and there are still 4 days. The 20th and 21st teams were on vacation, and the 22nd began to resume training. Everyone should have a good rest these days and don't waste energy on other things, OK? ”

"Abstinence, no all-night parties." Zhou Quan added unequivocally.

"Understood!"

Everyone didn't laugh, because Zhou Quan's expression was very serious, not a joke, so the young people didn't dare to giggle.

Veterans will not, Rodman, who is super party-like, of course will not slap Zhou Quan in the face, and then nodded.

Then everyone went into the bathroom to take a shower, Zhou Quan took a step slower, pulled Rodman and said, "Dennis, the playoffs are your time to contribute." The youngsters in the first and second rounds should be able to handle it, and the playing time of the West Finalists will increase. ”

Rodman patted his chest and said, "Iron Fist, don't worry, I'm still full of energy, and it's no problem to play for thirty minutes." ”

Zhou Quan was relieved, Rodman only played a total of 41 games in the regular season, averaging only 12.5 minutes per game, and he was able to grab 6.2 rebounds, and the strength of this old guy is still there.

Big Ben's rebounding is also very good, with these two rebounding masters, at least in the rebounding category, the supersonic does not lose to any team.

… Little Barry didn't go in to take a shower, but took out his mobile phone from the closet and made a call to his second brother Joan Barry.

He has four brothers, the youngest brother is only 6 years old, 23 years younger than him, and the eldest brother is 34 years old, 5 years older than him.

At present, the second brother Joan Barry is playing in the Kings, backup guard, and the fourth brother Drub Barry was traded from the Warriors to the Hawks this season, and he has no chance to play, only playing 16 games.

Now that the supersonic team is playing the king in the first round, the strength of the team has an absolute advantage, so I specially called his second brother to think about it.

"Hey, Brent, what are you calling me for?" Over there, Joanbari had just finished the game before returning to the locker room.

"Joan, good news, we're going to meet in the first round." Brent Barry said with a smile.

"I know." Joanbari said angrily.

"Haha......"

…

The next morning, the league officially released the regular season standings and the first-round playoff matchups through the media, as well as some statistics and honors.

The MVP will be announced before the second round, and the best team will be announced before the start of the Eastern and Western finals.

In addition to the five individual data kings, the best coach was won by Paul Westfale, the best rookie was Elton Brand, and the DPOY was actually given to Zhou Quan, which is also the third time he has won this honor.

At the same time, the league also released the data of this season's regular season ratings, with an average of 2.32 million live viewers in the United States across the league, compared to 1.2 million last season, which means a 93.3% increase from last season.

Of course, the figure of 2.32 million is still a lot worse than the 96/97 season before Zhou Quan's retirement, when the average regular season viewership was 4.25 million.

Zhou Quan's comeback did not directly bring back the popularity lost by the NBA, and the popularity was robbed by the other three major sports leagues.

The superSonics' figure is 7.61 million, more than double last season's direct skyrocket, with the Seattle metro area accounting for 35 percent of that. SuperSonic's ratings have returned to the 96/97 season before Zhou Quan retired.

On the 20th and 21st of the next, Zhou Quan accompanied Zeng Li in the hospital.

Zeng Li's birth is about to be born, and he was admitted to the hospital a few days ago on the due date of the 28th.

It was a private specialized maternity hospital, which was extremely expensive, and it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to give birth to a child.

is pregnant with a son, the name is ready, the big name is Zhou Yuan, and the little name is Zhouzhou.

Everything is normal now, but there is no custom of confinement here, so Lin Yufen plans to take her home for confinement without any problems after she gives birth.

……

On the 22nd, the king arrived in Seattle.

On this morning, SuperSonics held a pre-war tactical meeting.

After the meeting began, McMillan, as an assistant coach, was responsible for introducing some information, saying: "The Kings have a very strong offense, 105 points, which is the most points per game in the league.

The team's leading scorer is Chris Webb, who averages 24.5 points per game, and including him, the Kings have six players in double figures. There are five others who scored more than 5 points.

But their defense is not good, conceding a high average of 102.1 points per game, the third-lowest in the West, the most of any of the eight Western Conference playoff teams. ”

At this point, Paul Westphale picked up and said: "Their rebounding leader is Chris Webb, who averages 10.5 per game, and in rebounding, we have the advantage, and we should do a good job in the first round."

In terms of assists, their main point guard is White Chocolate Jason Williams, a sophomore who averages 12.3 points and 7.3 assists per game.

The young point guard will of course be tackled by the Iron Fist King, and by locking him up, he will be able to lock up the Kings' offense and disrupt their Princeton system.

His offense is average, shooting just 37.3 percent from the field this season, and he likes to shoot three-pointers, averaging 1.8 of 6.2 shots per game and just 28.7 percent from the field.

But his passing is very threatening, the ability to pass the ball without looking at people is very strong, don't be careless with the Iron Fist King, this kid has a ball in his hand, and even his teammates don't know who he will pass to. ”

Zhou Quan nodded and said: "I have paid attention to Jason Williams, the passing is very flowery and sassy, I will not be careless." ”

"Haha......"

There was laughter in the room.

In the afternoon, the team arranged an intra-team match, with the substitute team simulating the king's tactics, and Zhou Quan wearing the substitute team's training uniform and playing the role of white chocolate, simulating Williams' passing style.

Good guys, he made six mistakes in 15 minutes, and 5 of them were when his substitute team-mates didn't get his passes.

Paul Williams was so angry that he flew into a rage on the sidelines, and several substitute teams almost didn't get scolded to death by him.

"Damn, where is your attention? Be ready to catch Tekken's ball at all times, even if the back of his head is facing you, you know? ”

"Bastard, be focused, when the Iron Fist King passes the ball to the right wing, the players on the left wing must be mentally prepared to receive the ball."

"Oh, and I didn't catch the ball! When Tekken rushes to the basket with the ball, those who run out of the open space must be prepared to catch the ball. ”

"The main team should be careful, don't laugh at the teammates who make mistakes, tomorrow night, you will face such a pass, white chocolate can fool his teammates, it can also fool you."

……

That night, the first round began.

There were no upsets in the G1 game, with the Lakers beating the Timberwolves, the Trail Blazers beating the Suns, the Heat beating the Pistons, and the Knicks beating the Raptors.

No. 23, Seattle New Center Coliseum.

The series was broadcast live across the United States by ESPN and featured by Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

The SuperSonics' regular season ratings are the highest in the league, and at least half of the games are broadcast live in the United States by NBC, which was not prepared to give up the SuperSonics' playoff series, but was forced by pressure from several other major television stations to choose to give up.

Although NBC is the NBA's television broadcaster, it is based on the principle of risk sharing, and there are too many games to broadcast all the NBA games, and some games must be transferred to other TV stations, so some of the best rated games must also be ceded.

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

Kings: Divac, Chris Webber, Collis Williams, Nick Anderson, Jason Williams

Sonics: Ben Wallace, Campbell, Cory Magetti, Brent Barry, Zhou Quan

After getting the starting list, Kenny Smith said with some anticipation: "To be honest, there is no suspense in this series, the Kings cannot have the strength of the Black Eight, the Iron Fist King has always been known for his stable performance, and his team has never been upset."

What I'm looking forward to is what Jason Williams, a sophomore point guard with a flashy passing style and a reputation for not looking at people's passes, nicknamed White Chocolate, can perform in front of the Iron Fist King.

The Iron Fist King is also very good at passing the ball without looking at people, he doesn't look at people, and he has even reached the point where he rarely observes left and right on the field, and you rarely see him looking around.

And the Iron Fist King is the greatest steal king, the six steal king, can he allow White Chocolate to play unscrupulously in front of him? ”

With that, he turned to look at Barkley and asked with a grin, "Charles, do you think White Chocolate has a chance to play in front of the Iron Fist King in the flashy style of the past?" ”

Barkley shrugged his shoulders and said, "Of course there is a chance, White Chocolate's passing style is too sassy, unless Iron Fist has the ability to predict the future, he can limit White Chocolate's passing." ”

Kenny Smith said decisively: "Well, I'll bet you, White Chocolate doesn't have that chance, he's only in the second grade, and his mental quality and technical experience haven't reached that level." ”

"Kenny, do you have to fight me?" Barkley feigned anger.

"Of course not, so let's swap it?" Kenny Smith said with a grin.

“NO。”

Barkley decisively refused, so he would not stand on the side of the Iron Fist King.

Kenny Smith suddenly said, "Charles, do you think the SuperSonics have a chance to win this time?" ”

"How is that possible? Are you crazy, why did the SuperSonics win the Lakers? Don't think that the SuperSonics and the Lakers are tied 2-2, in the fourth game it was O'Neal who was injured, or it was 3-1. Barkley cried.

Kenny Smith said, "Why not? The Lakers, that is, O'Neal, are powerful, and the outside core Kobe Bryant has great potential, but he has not yet entered his peak and cannot pass the Iron Fist King.

The Lakers can't be connected inside and outside through Kobe Bryant, and as long as the SuperSonics pinch O'Neal, or limit O'Neal's passing as they did in Game 3, the chances of beating the Lakers are great. ”

Barkley shook his head and said: "The Lakers are not only Kobe, but also Glen Rice, and ......"

"No, it's okay for the three of them."

Kenny Smith interrupted Barkley and said, "In the regular season, O'Neal averaged 29.7 points per game, Kobe Bryant 22.5 points, Glen Rice 15.9 points, and there were only three people who averaged more than 10 points per game.

Among them, the Lakers scored 80.1 points, accounting for 79.5% of the team's scores, and the bench only accounted for 20.5%. The supersonic main team scored 68.4 points, accounting for 65.6%.

I mean, the Lakers' bench lineup is not as good as the SuperSonics, the offense is too reliant on the main lineup, and when the main lineup is limited, how many chances do the Lakers have to win?

When it comes to restricting the main lineup, Tekken will definitely face Kobe, as long as Kobe Bryant's scoring is limited, the Lakers will not only lose the second scoring point, but also destroy the Lakers' internal and external dual-core connection by limiting Kobe, and let them fall into a solo battle. ”

"Alright, Kenny, that's NBC's job, it's not our business, let's focus on the first-round series." Barkley quickly interrupted his partner's conversation.

“OKOK……”

……

(End of chapter)