Chapter 162 Beating the Rain Man

   At this time, in the ABC live broadcast booth, the two commentators were also stunned for a moment before they responded.

   "I'm right. If you don't give a malicious foul just now, there will be a big problem sooner or later. The referee put himself on the fire, and President Stern was sitting on the sidelines."

After    Bill Wharton finished speaking, he shook his head and added: "Just now, Rain Man hooked Old K's neck from behind and pulled him down without any protective action, but Rain Man himself is absolutely safe and without any danger.

   And this time, Old K even disregarded his own safety and wanted to get Rain Man down. He was ten times crazier and ten times more ruthless than Rain Man. "

  John Hanks shook his head and sighed: "Old K is really too ruthless, not only to his opponents, but also to himself! Rain man, what are you doing to provoke old K?"

   Bill Walton asked at this time: "Then John, do you think the referee is right to call the old K second-level malicious foul?"

   "Of course not."

John Hanks said: "Judging from the process just now, both of them were collisions when they were sliding forward in the air. Neither was a vertical take-off, and neither should have a cylindrical defensive position. Of course, there is nothing similar in the league. Rules, only the concept of location.

   However, they also had no place at the time because they were all in transit.

   So this time it was either an offensive foul, a defensive foul, or no foul, it was a normal aerial confrontation.

   Level 2 malicious foul, the rain should be right in front of him, this time old K is not enough, this is a serious misjudgment. "

   Bill Walton nodded, agreeing with his partner.

  On the field, Rain Man had woken up, but his brain was still dizzy and he couldn't sit up. He was immediately sent to the hospital for examination.

On the Suns side, Wang Tiejun left the field and replaced Oliver Miller.

   "Brothers, **** them." He yelled at his teammates before leaving the field.

   "Fuck them!"

   The fans responded with a bang, and the Suns' home momentum climbed to the top.

   As a result, without the destructive power of the Rain Man on the penalty area, the Suns finally won the game, 85:110, and won by 25 points.

  Wang Tiejun only played for half a quarter, made 4 of 4 shots, all dunks at the basket, 0 of 2 free throws, and got 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul.

   One hour after the game, the press conference begins.

On the Sonics side, without waiting for reporters to ask questions, Crazy Carl roared at the numerous media: "This is an atrocity, a revenge, we will appeal to the league and ask for an additional suspension of the old K, this matter will not come. Until then, someone has to pay for it."

   "Coach Karl, then you think the Rain Man hooked Old K's neck from behind and pulled him down. There is no protection for Old K. Is it a murder?" The Phoenix Sports reporter below asked loudly.

  Crazy Carl's face twitched, what nonsense, this is the NBA, what murder are you talking about, are you crazy? It was just a normal foul, and the referee's penalty was the most fair.

"Humph!"

   With a cold snort, he closed his mouth and didn't answer the question, because he knew that the reporter didn't need him to answer at all, he was just scolding him.

   On the Suns side, the head coach and Colangelo did not arrange for him to attend the press conference.

At the press conference, Westphal angrily stated to the media that he would definitely appeal to the league for the rain man’s act of pulling Old K from behind without any protection. appeal.

   The next day, early in the morning on the 25th, the league headquarters received electronic complaint letters from the Suns and the Sonics.

   At this time, David Stern was still in Phoenix. At 9:30, after going to work at the headquarters, he held a conference call to discuss with the heads of several referee committees how to deal with the incident.

Before the    negotiation, he said first: "Sean Camp's action is enough for a second-level malicious foul, but it was lightly let go."

   In the conference room at the alliance headquarters, several leaders looked at each other and immediately understood Stern's basic attitude.

   "Rain Man's movements are indeed too dangerous. He should protect him in the end. After all, he started from behind."

   "Old K is a head-on collision, and the degree of danger is not as good as that of the Rainman. And from the analysis of the rules, at most one defensive foul, and conversely punishing the Rainman for an offensive foul is justified."

   "I suggest an additional second-level malicious foul on Rain Man and a one-game suspension. At the same time, old K's second-level malicious foul is revoked."

   They say you, I say, showing their attitude.

At this time, Stern said again: "The Suns' strength and lineup are stronger than the Supersonics. If the Supersonic's main player is suspended, the strength of the two sides will be more unbalanced, which is not conducive to the ratings of the series. As a management layer, what we have to do is balance.”

   The leaders over there looked at each other, but immediately joined together.

Stern added: "But what is the referee's name? His penalty is problematic, especially the penalty for sending old K, which is quite amateur. So what we need to do now is that he personally needs to be punished. Investigation, and the referee committee must give me an account."

   A few people in charge heard this, and then they understood what Stern wanted to do.

   At 10 am, the official announcement was made.

  First, Rain Man was charged an additional second-degree flagrant foul and fined $20,000.

   Second, revoke Wang Tiejun's second-level malicious foul.

   Third, for the referee Tom Lewis of last night's game, the eligibility for penalty execution was suspended indefinitely.

   The Suns are satisfied with these three decisions, and the Supersonics didn’t say much. After all, they didn’t suspend the Rain Man, which is not bad.

   As for referee Tom Lewis, some media revealed that it is likely to involve gambling, but there is no evidence, the league will not expose the scandal, it is estimated that it will be over in the end, but Tom Lewis wants to re-penalize the NBA game, it is estimated that it will be difficult.

   Subsequently, the Supersonics announced to the media Rain Man’s injury at the local hospital in Phoenix, with a mild concussion, and Rain Man needed a truce.

   "Lewis, do you think the Rain Man will really have a truce?" Paul Westphal asked after learning the news.

   "Maybe it was a smoke bomb that paralyzed us," said Assistant Professor Lewis.

  Paul Westphal nodded thoughtfully and said, "Rain Man is very strong. Although he fell hard, he knocked his head, so it should be fine."

   That night, the Eastern Finals G2 battle started.

   As a result, the Bulls, who were the most vocal about winning the championship, lost again, 91:96, losing two games in a row at Madison Square Garden and trailing the Knicks 0-2.

Jordan was frantically double-teamed and played an inefficient game again, shooting 12 of 32 from the field and only 37.5% from the field, and only 1 of 7 three-pointers, a pitiful 14.3%, plus 11 of 13 free throws. Among them, he scored 36 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls.

  Pippen also scored only 17 points, only two of them scored in double figures among the five starters, and the Cobra, one of the iron triangles, only scored a pitiful two points.

   The team shot only 41%, 4 of 12 three-pointers, and only 33.3%.

In terms of the Knicks, Ewing made 11 of 25 shots, and the shooting rate was average, only 44%, plus 4 of 4 free throws, scored 26 points and 10 rebounds.

   All five starters of the team scored in double figures, the team's shooting rate reached 50.8%, 4 of 7 three-pointers, and the shooting rate was as high as 57%.

   In terms of rebounding, at 34:45, the Knicks once again had the upper hand. It can be said that the Knicks, like the G1 battle, won on rebounding, and won 31 rebounds in the two Eastern Conference finals.

After the game, the Lakers star Skygob Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was watching the game at Madison Square Garden, was interviewed by a TV station on the spot. He said: "The Bulls should improve their inside line, obviously their inside line has been aging and can't keep up with the league at all. situation.

In this Eastern Conference finals, the Bulls encountered the biggest difficulty. They fell behind 0-2. If they can't win the next two home games, once the Knicks get the Eastern Conference finals, things will be difficult to solve. Elimination is very possible. "

   "Karim, what do you mean by the current alliance situation?" the reporter asked.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: "In the East, the Ewing + Oakley interior combination has formed a considerable pressure on the Bulls' interior, they controlled the rebounds and suppressed the Bulls' basket offense, and such an interior combination, in the West, There are also.

  Yes, I was talking about the Suns.

  Mosaic and Spurs are both good, they have super center, but they lack effective helpers at the 4th position, which is the key reason why they can't make it to the Western Conference Finals.

As for the Suns, the combination of Barkley + Old K in the inside line, they are among the best in the league on offense. Barkley can be inside and out, while Old K's low post back play and his ability to sweep the basket are the best in the league. Who is the Bull's inside line? can withstand?

I won't talk about the playoffs this time. Even if the Bulls are lucky and won three consecutive championships, after the old K is more mature next season, if the Bulls do not improve their insiders, there is no doubt that the insiders will win the world. The Bull Dynasty has not yet been established, it will be ended. "

  Jordan sat in the locker room, his face gloomy to the extreme, he turned his head to stare at the TV on the wall, and Kareem’s words entered his ears word for word.

   "Michael, I'm sorry."

   The main center, who sat opposite him, said with his head lowered.

His performance in this Eastern Conference finals was very poor. In 29 minutes of G1, he made 0 of 3 shots, 4 of 4 free throws, and only scored 4 points and 5 rebounds. In 23 minutes of G2, he made 1 of 2 shots and 4 of 8 free throws. Only got 6 points and 3 rebounds, completely unable to support the Bulls inside.

   And his partner Grant's performance was no better than him, with 11 points and 7 rebounds in G1, which was barely passable, but only 2 points, 2 rebounds and 0 assists in G2, which was worse than him.

  Jordan did not speak, put a towel over his face, leaned on the closet and fell into silence.

  The air in the dressing room seemed to freeze together, no one dared to speak, any movements were cautious, and no one dared to make any sound.

   "This time the bull is in trouble, alas!"

   Wang Tiejun's house, Zhang Lili sighed.

   "Can't you pull it back?" Pharaoh asked.

"There is definitely a chance to pull it back. Back at home, the Bulls have a chance to win two consecutive victories. At that time, the pressure will be on the Knicks. Comparing the psychological quality of the two sides, Jordan is definitely better. The result will be hard to say. "Zhang rationally analyzed.

   "So the key is the next two home games for the Bulls?"

"Yep."

"They are all doing useless work. No matter which of these two teams makes it to the finals, they have to fall at our feet. They are just desperately fighting for a chance to be the second child. What's the point? The second child is also a loser. ."

   Comrade Lao Wang is disdainful.

  “…”

   Zhang Lei's mouth is wide open, Tie Jun, Comrade Xiao Wang, when did you become so mad?

  The mentality of the two is completely different.

   In the past few years in Chicago, Zhang Lili was used to seeing the strength of the NBA, and even more accustomed to the strength of the Bulls and Jordan. When he looked at the NBA and Jordan, he looked up.

But Wang Tiejun is different. He didn't know much about the NBA before. Even after entering the NBA, the Suns had the first record in the league, and they had one win and one loss against the Bulls. Can really suppress his low-post offense, how do you make him feel in awe of the NBA and the Bulls?

   Even Jordan scored 50 points on the Suns once and 49 points once, but with a record of one win and one loss, he did not feel that invincible for Jordan.

   What's more, with the Bulls losing their second game in a row, Jordan has scored a lot of points, but his efficiency is average, and he will not feel that Jordan is invincible. In his eyes, Jordan is just a little bit better than Barkley, not invincible.

  On the 26th, the Suns did not practice in the morning, rested at home, and had adaptive training in the afternoon.

   I didn't sleep too late last night. At 8:30, Wang Tiejun got up, had breakfast with Zhang Heli, and started to read the newspaper. After preparing to digest the food, he did speed and flexibility training.

   "The media, the accusations against Jordan are getting worse now." Zhang Lili flipped through several newspapers, but he didn't want to read them.

   "It means he's on fire!"

  Old Wang said: "Otherwise, when have you ever seen the media scold me like this? When the media scold me like this one day, I will really be on fire."

   Zhang Lili was stunned for a moment, then laughed and scolded: "You kid, co-authoring with you all day long and thinking about the media to scold you?"

"Ha ha…"

   Old Wang laughed.

   Zhang Lili sighed and said: "If you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight. This is true."

   "What do you mean?" Pharaoh asked.

"Literally, if you want to wear a crown, you have to bear the weight of it. It's like Jordan now, he is the brand of the league and gets the most attention, but his every move is also magnified by the media, so it's okay to be criticized. The most pressure is also the greatest, if the will is weaker, the spirit may collapse." Zhang Li explained.

   That night, the G2 battle of the Western Conference finals began.

   At 7:30, the starting list of the two teams was announced.

  Sonics: Sean Kemp, Sam Perkins, Derek McKay, Ricky Pierce, Payton

  Sun: Wang Tiejun, Barkley, Ceballos, Dan Marley, Kevin Johnson

   "I just said, the Supersonics are using smoke bombs, and Rain Man's injury is not serious at all." In the home team's locker room, assistant coach Lewis said.

   "I don't care if he can get up, anyway, we will kill Supersonic." Wang Tiejun said unhappily.

   "Old K, you have to be careful about that **** Rain Man, he has no brains at all, and it is possible to attack you on impulse." Buckley urged.

   "I see." He nodded.

  My lower body is generally resistant to injury and illness, so I really need to pay attention to avoid injury.

   After ten minutes, the two teams met in the player tunnel.

   Enemies meet each other and are extremely dazzled.

  Rain Man stared at Wang Tiejun stubbornly, his eyes almost bleeding.

   The day before yesterday, he was half-dead, and his bones are still hurting. It's all the fault of this bastard, old K. Today he wants to get it back.

   "What's the matter, what are you looking at? The account that pulled me down last time hasn't been settled with you." Wang Tiejun strode forward, pressing towards Rain Man.

  Rain Man's face twitched and he took a half step back.

   When it comes to fighting, he has self-knowledge, the tonnage is too different, I am afraid he can't beat the old K, who is known for his violence.

   "Old K, don't be impulsive!"

   The security guards on the side rushed forward.

But their action was a little late. Wang Tiejun had already rushed in front of Yuren. The latter turned around and ran, but slammed into the wall behind him. just hit.

"what!"

   With just one punch, the Rain Man screamed in agony.

   Before he could hit a second punch, security rushed forward and pulled him away.

  Rain Man was punched in the mouth, his mouth was full of blood, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and several teeth fell to the ground.

   "Boom!"

   Wang Tiejun, who was pulled away, struggled to escape, kicked over, and kicked Rain Man against the wall.

  Rain Man was afraid and wanted to run. He was afraid of being beaten to death by the madman Lao K.

   None of the other four of the supersonic dared to come up to stop Wang Tiejun, not even to discourage him, but just stayed on the side, bewildered.

   "Get out! Get out!"

   At this time, the visiting team came out, the host outside was shouting, and without the security urging, five Supersonic players rushed out in a swarm, including Rain Man.

   "Don't run!"

   Wang Tiejun's roar sounded from behind, which only made them rush out faster.

"what happened?"

  Sonics head coach George Karl saw several starters running out together, looking like a panic, while Rain Man was full of blood and couldn't help but panic.

   "Old K's bastard." Peyton said angrily.

   "Is he crazy?" George Karl gasped.

   "He's a lunatic!" Rain Man screamed in disbelief, but his voice slipped through the net, and several front teeth were knocked out.

"Humph!"

   At this time, the Suns head coach Westphal came to this side, saw the embarrassed appearance of Rain Man, and said coldly: "The black hand who dares to be behind the old K, actually wants to destroy him, you are so courageous!"

"you?"

  George Carr said sadly and indignantly: "The fight is also fought, is this matter settled?"

"hey-hey!"

   Westphal sneered twice and did not respond, but stepped forward and gave a high five to Wang Tiejun and others who appeared.

   "These violent people!"

George Karl was trembling with anger, and he said to the Rain Man dissatisfied: "Kemp, you are crazy too, just pull him down from the back, there is no protection for him, are you still a professional player? You are playing ball, Not murder."

"I?"

  Rain people are extremely wronged, why did they come at me, I am the victim.

   "Team doctor, deal with him." George Karl shouted back.

   The three referees gathered at this time, and it was obvious that their eyes glanced at Rain Man from time to time.

   "Guys, the whistle is stricter. They have played a game off the court first. They can't be allowed to spread on the court, absolutely not allowed."

  Today's referee had a bald head and looked stern, he said to his two companions.

   "OK."

   The two referees nodded and did not object.

  In the ABC live booth, Bill Walton stared at the screen in front of him and smiled: "John, I see, Rain Man's mouth is broken, the team doctor should have stuffed a hemostatic cotton, it must not have fallen by himself."

   "He should have had braces off the court," John Hanks said.

   "Pfft!" Bill Walton laughed.

   At eight o'clock, the game starts.

   (end of this chapter)