Chapter 234 End of Season

   No. 25, the game day of the Western Finals G2 match.

  The Suns arranged for a tactical meeting in the morning and recovery adaptation training and tactical drills in the afternoon.

   At eight o'clock, the G2 battle started.

   In this game, the Mosaic team absorbed the reasons for the loss of G1 and made some changes.

   The biggest change is that Barkley is back at the 3, which is where he played for the Suns during the regular season.

  He was at this position, and the Mosaic won three of four regular season games.

Tomjanovich did this because he thought the two cores in the low post were too crowded, put Barkley at the 3, and used his ability to control the ball inside and out, so as to link the entire team and put Barkley at the 3. The inside and the outside are integrated to achieve a balance.

   At the same time, Barkley can also make a great contribution to the low-position old K.

   That is to say, the Mosaic team resumed the regular season play and took out the meat shield of Eric Clary again.

  Riley defends Pharaoh alone, Da Meng strengthens weak side assist defense, and Barkley frequently doubles on strong side. Through such low-position defense, Pharaoh's performance is limited to a certain extent.

   Wang scored 30 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 46 minutes, 11 of 24 shots, 45.8% shooting, and 8 of 14 penalties.

   Under the influence of Mosaic's home atmosphere today, the Suns' perimeter feel was not as good as the last game. His scoring effect was not good and he only got two assists, which was also an important reason for the Suns' loss.

  Kevin Johnson also scored 28 points and 11 assists, but the two teamed up and failed to lead the team to victory.

   At the end, 95:101, the Mosaic team equalized, and the two sides tied.

  On the 26th, the Suns returned to Phoenix. The format of the division finals is 22111. They will have two home games.

   That night, the Bulls went on a winning streak at home, leading the Knicks 2-0.

  The Bulls have yet to lose in the playoffs, and their nine-game winning streak has made their call for the championship peak. The whole Chicago is in excitement, and Nike's stock price is rising.

   Even, the media shouted the voice of undefeated championship, which shows that the Bulls' strength in the playoffs has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

   This put a lot of pressure on the Suns and the Mosaics, whoever wins will touch that terrifying Bull in the finals.

  May 27th, the match day of the Western Conference Finals G3.

   Both sides continued the tactical play of the G2 battle, and there were no major changes.

  The Mosaic team has tasted the benefits, and there is no problem with sticking to the style of play.

   On the Suns side, they lost the G2 game, but still insisted on the tactics of the G2 game, which is very strange.

In fact, the idea of ​​coach Westphal is very simple, and the reasons are very good. The Suns lineup and tactics are like this. With the old K as the core of the inside line, it is opened to let him play in the low post, or let Kevin Johnson play a surprise Point tactics, and these two basic tactics, both require outside pitchers to be able to hit open balls.

   What he hopes is that the perimeter can be more accurate. As long as the perimeter feel can be restored, it can limit Barkley's double-teaming on the strong side against the low post, and also make Kevin Johnson's rushing tactics more efficient.

   The loss of the G2 game was not due to a tactical problem, but because the players were in poor condition and could not shoot open **** from the outside, which led to the frequent double-teaming of Old K, so he did not change his tactics in this game, but just competed with his opponent.

His idea was realized. The Suns felt better on the outside than in G2. Dan Marley made three three-pointers, Horry made two, and Danny Ainge also made one. After three quarters, the team made 6 of 15 three-pointers, with a shooting rate of 40%, which is equivalent to 60% of the two-pointers.

   But the Mosaic team also played quite well. Barkley served as the core of the outside line, and with the big dream, he integrated the energy of the whole team and grabbed the score.

   After three quarters, at 84:84, the two teams actually tied.

   Zhang Liliang analyzed anxiously: "The Suns didn't have a score advantage when they had such a good perimeter feel. In this case, once their physical fitness in the distal quarters declined, their perimeter feel would definitely decrease, which would be very troublesome."

Su Qun was also worried: "Old K didn't make many shots today. He made 7 of 12 shots, made 58.3% of the shots, made 3 of 6 free throws, and scored 17 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls. A bit too much, the contribution on the defensive end is not as good as the previous two games."

   Zhang rationally analyzed: "It doesn't matter if he takes fewer shots, he has a lot of points, good assists, and he has no problem on the offensive end.

   The main problem is that there are many mistakes. There are problems with passing and receiving the ball when he double-teams the ball several times, and there are problems with the cooperation of his teammates. Most of these mistakes are counted on his head.

   Then the defense is not good. He did a good job defending Dameng. Although Dameng scored 20 points, his shooting rate was only 48%. It was just that there was a problem with his help defense.

  Tonight, the Mosaic team's offense was average, everyone shot, it is difficult for him to make high-quality help defense. I can't really blame him for this. Tonight, the Suns were lucky, but they were not bad either. They could make shots even against defenders. "

   The final quarter started, and Zhang Lili's worry appeared. The Suns felt hot on the outside in the first three quarters. As their physical fitness declined in the final quarter, there was a problem with their hand.

   In the first five minutes, the Suns made 1 of 5 shots from the outside, and the Suns' score was immediately pulled away. At 91:96, the Mosaic led by 5 points.

   Of course, this is also related to the fact that Mosaic reduced the tactics of Wang Tiejun's low double team in the first five minutes, and strengthened the defense of the Suns' perimeter.

The Suns called a timeout and changed their offensive tactics. Since the Mosaic team has reduced the low-post double-teaming tactics, Wang Tiejun will take over the offense in the low post, and Kevin Johnson will break through to score the ball. The difference is equalized.

  Unfortunately, the Mosaic team was in a really good state tonight, continuing the feel of the G2 battle. The Suns played their own offense, but there was a problem with the defense and could not stop the opponent from scoring. In the end, they did not pull it back and lost the G3 game.

   With a big score of one to two, the situation of the Suns' Western Conference Finals was somewhat passive.

   In this game, Wang Tiejun scored 24 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls.

   The hit rate reached 52%, and he only made 8 free throws. His lethality to the inside line was not enough, and his state was obviously not as good as the previous two games.

After three games of the Western Conference finals, he averaged 29 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 0.7 steals, 3 blocks, 4 turnovers and 3.3 turnovers.

   This performance is undoubtedly a superstar performance, but the team lost two games in a row after winning the first game. As the core of the team, he was also questioned by some media.

   Especially the defensive performance in the G3 game, so that these media repeatedly accused him, thinking that it was his defense that made the Mosaic team's offense too easy.

   However, there are not many such media. After all, his performance is also very strong, and the Mosaic team is indeed stronger than the Suns.

  At 9:00 am on the 28th, Wang Tiejun was sitting at the dining table at home, flipping through the newspaper while eating breakfast, and reading the articles accusing him.

   These articles are actually correct, and he does not deny that his current defense ability is indeed not enough.

   However, the series has only reached G3, and the result has not yet been determined, and the Suns will not necessarily lose.

   That night, the Bulls defeated the Knicks again at Madison Square Garden and won the Eastern Conference finals with a big score of 3-0.

  Jordan averaged 37 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3.3 steals and 0.7 blocks per game in the three Eastern Conference finals series, and his shooting percentage was as high as 56.5%.

   This hit rate is much higher than his previous playoff data, and the tactics of opening the inside line have greatly improved his offensive efficiency.

   In the 1987/88 season, his hit rate in the playoffs was as high as 53.1%. At that time, he was at the peak of his body. He hadn’t gained weight yet.

   And now, the Bulls' new inside tactics have allowed him to create a miracle.

It is conceivable that whether it is the Suns or the Mosaics, when they meet the Bulls in the finals, whether it is Da Meng and Barkley, or Wang Tiejun, they will be out by Clifford Robinson and Cobra Grantra, and then they will face Jordan and Pippen. A pervasive breakthrough.

  ESPN released the latest prediction of the probability of winning the championship. The Bulls are as high as 90%, the Mosaic is 25%, the Suns are symbolic 8%, and the Knicks are the same 8%.

  The dazzling Bulls and Jordan continue to put increasing pressure on the remaining three teams.

   No. 29, the match day of the Western Conference Finals G4.

In the locker room of the visiting team, Da Meng and Barkley were chatting, but the content was not this game, nor the Eastern Conference finals, but the Bulls. It can be seen that their attention was completely attracted by the Bulls, the pressure the Bulls put on them, and even the Bulls. Both surpassed their current Western Conference opponents, the Suns.

   "Charles, how do you think we're going to deal with the Bulls' inside tactics?" Da Meng said worriedly.

  Barkley lowered his head and thought for a while: "Let the coach use his brain. To be honest, I'm a little confused."

Under this pressure, in the G4 game, both Big Dream and Barkley lost their hands. The former only scored 16 points, made 6 of 18 shots, and the shooting rate was only 33.3%. The latter also only scored 23 points and hit The rate is only in the early 40s.

  The performance of the Suns was also average. They were also under pressure from the Bulls. In addition, they were behind by a large score, and their state was not good.

   But fortunately, Pharaoh made 11 of 20 shots, with a shooting rate of 55%, 11 of 17 penalties, and a shooting rate of 64.7%. He scored 33 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls.

Tonight, he spared no expense and always insisted on attacking the basket, which caused a lot of damage to the big dream of assisting defense. The dream of being a little distracted was two fouls in the first quarter and four fouls in the first half. drop.

  Kevin Johnson was also very powerful, scoring 25 points, 13 assists and 4 steals.

   The two teamed up to score 58 points, 105:115, and led the team to pull back a game.

   The big score was two to two, and the two teams returned to the starting line.

   On May 30, the Suns and the Mosaic arrived in Houston one after another.

   That night, the Bulls swept the Knicks and reached the finals with an unbeaten record of 11 consecutive victories.

  The Suns and Mosaic were under the strong pressure of the Bulls. In the G5 game on the 31st, their performances were average. In the end, the Mosaic team won the game with home advantage and won the Western Conference finals.

  The Suns' perimeter state was not good, and they repeatedly missed shots. The Mosaic team really double-teamed Wang Tiejun frantically, causing his efficiency to drop dramatically.

He exerted strength on both ends of the offense and defense, and his physical energy was too great. He played another 47 minutes in the game, and only rested for one minute. When his physical fitness was not enough, his ability to storm the basket was not enough. Most of the offense was on the outside. He made 11 of 26 shots and made 42.3% of his shots, plus 4 of 6 penalties, and scored 26 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls.

   On June 1, the two teams returned to Phoenix.

   On June 2, the G6 game of the Western Conference Finals started in Phoenix.

With the advantage of the home court, Kevin Johnson completely broke out, scoring 39 points and 14 assists, Wang Tiejun scored 24 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks. The tiebreaker.

Big Dream and Barkley, who lost match points, were very disappointed. Although they had the advantage of being at home in the tiebreaker, their stamina was almost exhausted after the Western Conference finals. Even if they finally won the Suns, how would they deal with it in the finals? The crazier bull?

   On June 3, the two teams returned to Houston again.

   On June 4th, the tiebreaker of the Western Conference Finals began.

   "Di, Di Di!"

   At ten o'clock in the evening, with the whistle of the referee, the tiebreaker ended.

  109:115, the Suns lost the tiebreaker and were eliminated by a big score of 3-4.

   "What's so special!"

   At the moment when the whistle sounded, Wang Tiejun collapsed on the floor, not wanting to move his fingers.

   After all, he failed to lead the team to the finals with Kevin Johnson and fell in the tiebreaker.

   In this game, he scored 29 points and 17 rebounds, and Kevin Johnson scored 21 points and 11 assists. The performance cannot be said to be bad, but he did not play a supernatural performance.

   But the big dream was even crazier. He scored 38 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals and 9 blocks. They scored a quasi-quadruple-double with extraordinary data.

At the beginning of the season, he wanted to make it to the finals, but unfortunately he failed to fulfill this wish. After working hard for a season, he finally fell in the Western Conference Finals. He was very disappointed, but fortunately, he had always been mentally prepared, so he did not treat himself and himself. The Suns have lost confidence that he and the team will make a comeback next season.

   Lying next to him was Kevin Johnson, but Lightning was even more disappointed than him.

   The Lightning, who is 28 years old, has been training hard in the last offseason, and has spent a lot of time this season. He feels that his state should really decline next season.

   At least this offseason, he won't practice any more, he really doesn't have that determination, and his body can't bear that kind of consumption anymore. His physical talent can't compare to Jordan's, and this offseason will be dominated by recuperation.

   "Kevin, old K?" Barkley appeared on top of the two and stretched out his hands to pull them up.

   "Congratulations, Charles." Kevin Johnson sent hugs and blessings.

   "Congratulations, brother, try to kill the bull and get your second championship." Pharaoh said sincerely.

  Barkley shook his head with a wry smile and said, "If you let us go, and we have two fewer games in the Western Conference Finals, we can still compete with the Bulls. Now, how can we fight with them?"

"You don't have to do this. The finals start on the 8th. You still have four days to rest. If you lose, don't put the reason for the loss on us, that is, you can't beat the Bulls and Jordan by yourself." Pharaoh laughed. .

Barkley smiled bitterly and said to Pharaoh: "You don't even look at the state of the big dream. He has played with you for seven games, and he is desperately fighting until now. He is full of injuries from fighting against you. It's the regular season, he's out early."

   At this time, Da Meng also came over, although he was exhausted, but his face was full of smiles.

   "Congratulations, Hakim."

   "Congratulations, Soft Egg Dream."

  Wang Tiejun and Kevin Johnson sent their own blessings, which is respect for an opponent.

   "Thank you, Kevin. Thank you, Soft Egg K." Da Meng accepted all the orders, plus his own counterattack against Pharaoh.

  Pharaoh's face is darkened, it seems that he can no longer be called Ruandan Meng, or else the three of them will become tigers, and it will be troublesome to implement the nickname Ruandan K on his body.

   Moreover, the performance of the big dream in this series is extraordinary, it has nothing to do with the soft egg, it is the courage to fight against him that makes such a performance, otherwise it is uncertain who will be eliminated.

   On the CCTV commentary booth, Zhang Lili and Su Qun were also very sorry to see the Suns lose the tiebreaker. The former sighed: "Dameng's performance was too strong, the Suns lost the wrongful way."

  Su Qun sighed: "The Suns lost 10 rebounds in this game. If they grab a few more rebounds, they won't lose this game."

   Zhang Lili nodded and said: "Dream has 20 rebounds, Barkley has 12, and the Suns team has only 39.

  Dameng has 9 big caps, and his performance in protecting the basket is amazing. The Tiejun ate 4 big caps by himself. After hitting the back, the Suns could no longer attack.

   In fact, this game is not because the Suns did not play well, but because of the great dreams and superhuman performance, not a crime of war. "

Su Qun calculated the data in his hand and read: "After the seven Western Conference finals series, Lao K averaged 29 points, 14.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 0.6 steals, 2.8 blocks, 3.2 turnovers and 3.8 fouls. The shooting percentage is 53.4%, and his performance has exceeded It was a real superstar performance for the regular season."

Zhang Lili said: "The playoffs are a stage to test the quality of superstars. Wang Tiejun's performance is still very good. You must know that this is his second season, and he has become the core of the team for the first time. It's pretty good."

   "Iron Army, come and sit."

   "Old K, please take a seat. Please take a seat."

   "Brother Zhang, Su Qun, hello. Fans and friends in front of the TV, hello."

   At this time, Pharaoh came to their commentary seat. Everyone was too familiar with them, and they were not polite. After they sat down, they immediately began to ask questions.

   Zhang Heli asked: "Tie Jun, are you sorry?"

   "Oh, it's okay, we tried our best, but the opponent was really good." He said.

   "Old K, when will you return to China next?" Su Qun asked.

   "There are still some business activities here, take a break by the way, at the end of this month." He said.

   "Tie Jun, will there be additional training during the offseason? I want to help you talk!" Zhang Heli asked.

   "The trainer is arranged, but Brother Zhang, when you are free to help, I will greet you." He said with a smile.

"Row."

   Zhang Li nodded and sighed again: "Looking at your appearance, I feel more regretful than you, after all, I am only one step away from entering the finals."

"Ha ha…"

   Old Wang laughed and said, "It's nothing, there will be opportunities in the future."

Nodding, Zhang Lili still had a regretful look on his face, and said, "It's really hard to make it to the finals. After so many years of three super centers, this is the first time for a big dream. David Robinson and Ewing have neither Touched the floor of the finals. This is the era of the so-called center, but their experience shows how difficult it is to reach the finals. And Jordan, such a powerful person, this is also his era, but this is the only way Made it to the finals for the third time."

   Lao Wang nodded. Although he has his own confidence, he also knows that he will enter the finals next time, and he does not know what year it will be.

If the lineup does not match, the coaching team does not match, and if you encounter too strong opponents in the same period, if you are not lucky, or if the team has too many injuries, there are problems in the locker room, etc. Like a center, it's going to be hard to get to the Finals once in a career.

   But it is more exciting because it is full of uncertainty.

   Last year, he had a general feeling about the championship, and he didn’t even understand Barkley’s extreme enthusiasm and pursuit of the championship, and he did not have a strong desire to pursue hard honors.

   But after a season, as his strength rose and he became the new core of the team, he felt and viewed professional honors very differently.

   Of course, this is also related to his economic situation. When making money is easy, his focus naturally shifts to the pursuit of professional honor.

   This is also a pursuit of higher professional status and social status, and everything is a natural result.

   (end of this chapter)