Chapter 249 Jordan, I want to step on you!

   At this time, the Suns advanced to the frontcourt, and as soon as they crossed the center line, Kevin Johnson immediately felt the pressure of defense and improved by two grades.

   "Halftime press."

   He took a deep breath, put his left elbow in front of him, and pushed forward cautiously, while observing the positions of his teammates.

   At this time, Pharaoh came to the basket, looked at Kevin Johnson who was close to the top of the arc, and suddenly ran to the low post on the left wing.

   "Squeak!"

   Also at this time, Kevin Johnson suddenly made a breakthrough with the ball to the right. After forcing Jordan half a step back, he immediately turned around and passed the ball to the low left wing.

"pretty!"

   Zhang Lili praised when he saw this fake action.

"Snapped!"

  Pharaoh caught the ball with his right hand, and Clifford Robinson, who was inside, followed.

"boom!"

   He dribbled the ball once with his right hand, and his left foot suddenly went inward at the same time. When the defender came up, Tieshan broke out instantly.

   "Boom!"

   Clifford Robinson groaned, his 111kg body flew straight backwards, and hit the floor with a bang.

"Oh!"

   A huge exclamation sounded from the United Center.

"boom!"

   The next moment, Pharaoh, who stepped into the paint area, smashed the Bulls' basket with a flying dunk.

   "Beautiful! As long as the ball can be passed in, the Bulls can't stop the Iron Army even if they are double-teamed." Zhang Lili exclaimed excitedly.

   "Cough cough..."

  Clifford Robinson coughed non-stop, apparently having been hit, his chest felt as if he had been hit by a car, and the numbness shocked him.

   Just now, K's leaning hit was too fast, making him unable to react. At that time, he was still moving forward, and his reaction force was not small.

   "Kerry, are you alright?"

  Jordan ran over and didn't pull up his teammates immediately.

   "It's okay, it should be fine."

  Clifford Robinson's cough got better, his face flushed, and with Jordan's help, he stood up.

   On ABC's live broadcast, Bill Walton said: "If Kevin Johnson can still have the 92/93 season, or even last season, this Suns team will probably reach the Finals and kill the Bulls.

  Unfortunately, Kevin Johnson is not Jordan, and the few months of offseason have made him slip too much. Although he just finished a good pass, Jordan and Pippen's defense can't make him pass such a good pass every time. "

   "His age is actually not very big. He has lost so much in one offseason and has no major injuries. This means that his psychology has changed and he has lost his pursuit of the championship."

   After analyzing it, John Hanks added: "The Bulls played a pressing defense in the first half, not only to suppress the No. 1 position, but also to cut off the Suns' internal and external connections.

Old K's ability to assist and assist in the low post is very good. Once he gets the ball, whether it is playing by himself or assisting a teammate, he is very threatening. Simply suppressing the No. 1 position cannot completely destroy the Suns. The team's organizational ability, so the Bulls adopted this half-court pressing method to prevent the ball from passing to the hands of the old K, which not only suppressed the No. 1 position, but also made the old K's organizational ability unable to play. "

"It depends on how long Jordan and Pippen, especially Jordan's physical fitness, can last. But although Kevin Johnson is still three years younger, his physical fitness is not as good as Jordan's. Under this pressure defense, his physical fitness Physical might collapse." Bill Walton laughed.

   "A top player pays more attention to overall quality. Physical fitness is an indispensable talent. Jordan's physical talent is obviously stronger than Kevin Johnson." John Hanks laughed.

   At this time, the Bulls advanced to the frontcourt.

  Clifford Robinson pulled to the left-wing three-point line, Wang Tiejun followed, and released the opponent two meters, almost two meters away from the left waist of the paint area.

  Tony Kukochi pulled to the right-wing three-point line, and AC Green also put two meters away.

  Pippen also moved on the left-wing 3-point line, Jordan moved on the right-wing 3-point line, and point guard BJ Armstrong had the ball at the top of the arc.

   Zhang Lili said in an anxious tone: "All five of the Bulls can shoot three-pointers, and their pulling ability is the best in the league. The Suns' penalty area is completely empty.

At the same time, these five players can not only pass the ball, but also have strong organizational skills. They can also break through, cut in, and have a very fast speed. No one can play. This lineup is really strong, not weaker than last season. the bull. "

   "If you can pass and shoot, how can you fight?" Su Qun said anxiously.

   At this time, Pippen and Clifford Robinson made a pick-and-roll at the 50-degree three-point line, suddenly a change of direction cut, and received a pass from the top of the arc, and then took the ball to Pharaoh.

  Although Lao Wang was two meters empty, there was plenty of room for retreat, but Pippen suddenly changed direction, and he slammed him cleanly and went straight into the paint area.

   He quickly turned around and caught up, but with his level 77 speed, he couldn't keep up with a top small forward like Pippen. Pippen's speed was at least level 90, or even faster.

"boom!"

   Under the dunks, there were huge cheers and applause from the United Center.

  Su Qun sighed: "Inside pull tactics + outside pick-and-roll tactics + breakout tactics, has Zen Master completely abandoned the triangle offense?"

Zhang Lili shook his head and said, "Xiaosu, you are mistaken, the basic offensive structure of the Bulls is still a triangle offense. For example, in this offense, Pippen and Clifford Robinson immediately cut in after the pick-and-roll. The two of them cut in. It forms a triangle with BJ at the top of the arc.

  You think, how scary is it that the three corners, any point can throw energy and pass? You simply don't have any chance of double-teaming them.

   This kind of flanking triangle offense does not have the kind of large-scale lateral transfer, so the turnover rate is also very low. "

  Suqun exclaimed: "This lineup of the Bulls is really too strong!"

   "How do you say it? Jerry Krause's team building ability is indeed very strong."

   Zhang Lili thought for a moment, and then said: "The Bulls' lineup is stronger than the previous two consecutive championship lineup, and this time there is a chance to complete the three consecutive championship dynasty."

   "Three-peat dynasty? What about the Suns?" Su Qun exclaimed.

   Zhang Lili said with a wry smile: "The Suns lineup is also very strong, the inside combination of Wang Tiejun + Danny Manning is stronger than Tony Kukoc + Clifford Robinson.

  Although Drexler at the 3rd position is old, his offensive ability is really open to play, and he is not weaker than Pippen, but his defense and organizational skills are not as good as Pippen. Not to mention the guard line, Jordan can now beat Kevin Johnson.

  Where did the Suns lose? The perimeter defense just said, the Bulls can suppress the Suns' No. 1 position, but the Suns can't suppress the Bulls. The Suns' engine was strangled, how can they fight?

   As for the ability of the Bulls to pull the two big insiders, I would say, it is not the most important, because even if the Bulls beat the Suns, but in retrospect, the Suns can also beat the Bulls in the inside. The question is, can the Suns pass the ball with Jordan and Pippen on guard? "

  Suqun nodded and continued: "It's really about perimeter defense. That's the point of victory. The Suns need to find a first-class point guard again."

   Zhang Lili shook his head and said, "How can first-class stars be so easy to find? And a team can't accommodate so many stars.

   Now the Suns are going to pay the luxury tax, and this is because Wang Tiejun is on a rookie contract. After he finishes this season, if he jumps out of the last year's contract and signs a max salary, the Suns' salary will definitely explode, so he must trade some stars with big contracts and replace them with more role players, otherwise it will be unbearable. .

   Generally speaking, it is good to have two stars in the first-tier team, and the others must be matched with general main players, role players, marginal players, etc. "

  Suqun nodded and said with a wry smile, "That's true."

Zhang Reasonably analyzed: "If the Suns can't win the championship this season, Kevin Johnson's strength will definitely continue to decline next season, and the strength of several starting veterans may decline. At the same time, Wang Tiejun signed a new contract, and the team traded one or two. Stars, causing the team's strength to further decline, the possibility of winning the championship is even smaller.

  If you want to win the championship again, you can only wait for the real reconstruction, and even if you choose good young people, when they grow up, it will take at least several years to complete.

   Therefore, it is really difficult to build a championship team, not that it can be built.

   Think about the Bulls, Jordan is so strong, didn’t he also go through so many years of construction? Take Pippen as an example, he was made by Jordan little by little, what can I do if I don't have time? "

   After the first quarter, at 27:31, the Suns were 4 points behind.

   This is when Jordan did not attack hard. He only made 2 of 2 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 6 points.

  The Bulls shot very evenly, and all the top five starters shot.

   On the Suns side, under the halftime pressure of the Bulls, there were 6 turnovers in a single quarter, and the Bulls had only 3.

  Wang Tiejun played the full first quarter, made 4 of 4 shots, 2 of 2 free throws, and scored 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul.

   If it wasn't for his strong cricket, he would have lost more.

  The Lightning did not perform well under the cooperation of Jordan and Pippen, and failed to organize the attack well. The old knee injury has recurred in the past few days, and there are some problems with the state.

  Bill Walton analyzed at this time: "Old K only got 6 goals in the first quarter, which is seriously less than before. The strategic purpose of the Bulls to cut off the connection between the inside and outside of the Suns has been achieved.

   His 6 catches, one of which was a mistake, scored 4 times, and 1 point and 1 assist.

   But in addition to these 6 passes, there were actually 3 outside passes that were not received, and the mistakes were counted on the outside line. "

John Hanks continued: "The Bulls' perimeter mainly blocks the Suns' perimeter and the old K's pass-and-receive route. You can pass to others, but you can't pass in. If others get the ball, the offensive efficiency is not as good as that of the old K. The team's overall offensive efficiency has therefore dropped.

   On the offensive end, the Bulls used the pull-out tactics to empty the penalty area, and then swooped endlessly. The offensive efficiency was very high. "

Bill Walton said: "The Bulls implemented the half-court pressing tactics in the first quarter, which consumes much less physical energy than the full-court pressing, but no matter what, this high-intensity defensive tactic, at Jordan's age, It's good to be able to maintain two quarters, so the Suns still have a chance, once the Bulls' defense on the outside is weakened, the offense can be strengthened.

John Hanks said with a smile: "It depends on how much advantage the Bulls can get under the high-intensity perimeter defense. And this is the regular season, the Bulls can't really play the finals' defensive intensity, the Suns do Have the opportunity.

   Also, Bill, you overlooked one person, Ron Harper on the Bulls bench. "

   "..." Bill Wharton was stunned.

   In the second quarter, the Bulls continued to maintain a high-pressure state at halftime. After halftime, at 48:58, the Suns were already 10 points behind.

   Zhang Lili sighed: "The Suns made 11 half-time mistakes, the Bulls had only 6, the Suns had only 2 steals, and the Bulls had 7. How many **** were lost on the outside today?"

   "Old K grabbed 14 rebounds in the half, and the second quarter was even more violent, otherwise the half would be blown up." Su Qun said.

Zhang Lili continued: "Tie Jun played 8 minutes in the second quarter and 20 minutes in the first half, made 8 of 9 shots, 4 of 7 free throws, and scored 20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls. Data. The efficiency is very high, but there are not many shots, and I still can't catch the ball. Several shots are the second offense after grabbing the offensive blue cricket."

Su Qun said: "The Bulls' shots are still very average. Pippen played 21 minutes in the half and Jordan played 22 minutes. Obviously they want to kill the Suns in the first half. But from the halftime situation, I am afraid it is impossible. ."

   Zhang Lili said with a smile: "Today, the Suns are missing two main players and the rotation is lacking, but the Bulls are also the main force, and it seems that they really want to win this game.

   The defense was too strong in the first half, and the physical consumption was too great. It is impossible to maintain such a high defensive intensity in the second half. "

   "It should be preparing for the possible finals, right? But they didn't pay attention to the issue of cricket." Su Qun said.

"That's for sure. There are only two regular season games in total. If you don't prepare at this time, once they all reach the finals, there will be no chance to prepare. The problem of blue cricket is not that you don't pay attention, but that the inside line is too much in front of the iron army. It's weak, and it's completely incapable of confrontation." Zhang Lili laughed.

   At this time, the home team's locker room was in the lead, but the atmosphere was average.

  Jordan was talking to the Zen master with a serious expression on his face.

   "Michael, how's your fitness?" Phil Jackson asked.

   "Alright." Jordan said.

   "If you keep the half-court pressing tactics in the first half, can you still hold on to a quarter?" Phil Jackson asked.

  Jordan thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "If that's the case, it will be difficult for me to invest on the offensive end. Once the defense drops in the distal quarter, they will exert force on the inside, and we are likely to be in trouble."

Phil Jackson nodded and said: "Today is just an attempt. Next time, we may try to let the main lineup work on the defensive end in the first and third quarters, and let the bench work on the defensive end in the second quarter. Three quarters to get the Suns.

   But we can still deal with them today. In the third quarter, you help defend, recover your physical strength, and let Ron Harper defend the Suns' No. 1 position. "

  Jordan nodded. He didn't expect the Suns to have an incomplete lineup today, and the game was still so difficult. He said, "Phil, if all of their main players are there, how should we play?"

Phil Jackson thought about it later: "Actually, the strength gap between AC Green and Danny Manning is not as big as you think. You must know that the Suns controlled Manning's shot, and his contribution is similar to that of AC Green. And Dan Marr Li, an ordinary main player, the Suns lacked him, and there was not much loss.

   If we can beat the Suns tonight and the Suns with a neat lineup, it may be more difficult, but it's all within the range we can handle. "

  Jordan thought about it, it made sense, but he knew there was something wrong with Jackson's statement.

  The sun has injured two generals, how could the strength not be lost?

   But he did not continue to ask this question. Today, his own offense has some reservations. Even if the Suns lineup is neat, he can offset this with his own offense.

   His main concern was the blue cricket, which was a terrible problem, and he asked, "So Phil, how do we solve the blue cricket problem?"

   These words made Zen Master a little embarrassed. Before the game, he said that there was no problem with the blue cricket.

   He said: "This can only be reinforced through trading. The Spurs' big bug and David Robinson have always had a bad relationship, maybe they can get it."

  Jordan nodded and said, "I'll go and tell Klaus that he should do something too."

  The visiting team's locker room has a general atmosphere.

  Kevin Johnson was a little frustrated. Under the defense of Jordan and Pippen, he made 6 turnovers in the half. As his top point guard, he felt humiliated.

  Pharaoh is also very confused. Although tonight's lineup is not complete, it is actually not weak. I didn't expect to lose 10 points at halftime.

   He knew that if he didn't control the cricket himself, he would be blown up at halftime today.

   In addition to his efficiency, others are not enough offensively under the Bulls' perimeter defense.

  Drexler got a lot of opportunities when the Bulls cut off the Suns' inside and outside lines, but under Pippen's defense, he made only 3 of 10 shots and failed to make a superstar performance.

   Coach Westphal was leaning against the wall behind the door, thinking hard about how to solve these problems.

  How to help Kevin Johnson get rid of the Bulls' perimeter pressing defense, how to pass the ball in, etc. Without solving these problems, it is difficult for him to imagine winning the Bulls.

   Of course, he didn't think about winning this game. He was thinking about how the team could win the Bulls when the lineup was neat and prepare for the next regular season against the Bulls and the possible finals.

   Assistant coach Lewis and two other coaching staff members are also thinking hard and coming up with some ideas of their own.

   After fifteen minutes, the third quarter started.

  The Bulls didn't play with all the main force. Jordan deserved to be a physical freak. Pippen went down, and he was still on the court. He was two and a half years older than Pippen, but his physical fitness was better than Pippen.

Does   Pippen's end signify the weakening of the Bulls' perimeter defense? No, because Jerry Krause brought in Ron Harper from the Clippers this season.

Ron Harper, a guard, can play from the No. 1 guard to the No. 3 position. He can also be regarded as a swingman. He has averaged 20+5+4 in five seasons in his career, and he has a strong defense. Seven Averaged more than two steals per game this season.

   But even so tough, he didn't even have a chance to be an All-Star off the bench in the East.

The All-Star position of No. 1, 2 and 3 in the East, from the main force to the backup, has been occupied by Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Pippen, Wilkins, Joe Dumars and others all year round. This shows that the East Over the years, the backline, and even the small forward position, has gotten introverted so badly.

   He was the Clippers' actual first scoring point last season, with 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.9 steals. Although Wilkins and Danny Manning scored more than him, they didn't play many games.

   However, the Clippers were already in the process of rebuilding, and at the same time, he suffered a serious knee injury, fell off a cliff, and was dug over by the Bulls.

  The Bulls need his perimeter defense to make up for the inadequacy of the bench lineup's perimeter defense, but they don't need his offense, and in fact his offense is not good anymore, the level of an ordinary role player.

   He took Pippen's place, but Drexler didn't play, and he played against the Suns backup small forward veteran Danny Ainge.

   But Danny Ainge has no strength anymore, that is, throwing open positions, not very active in running, not threatening, he switched with BJ on the defensive end, he was the main defense of Kevin Johnson, and Jordan was on the side to help.

Two guards of the Suns were sick. Kevin Johnson didn't have a chance to rest tonight. He continued to play in the third quarter, but under the double team of Jordan and Harper, he was already very tired and continued to perform in the first half, making mistakes. Again and again, his own offense could not be played, and he did not sort out the team's offense well.

   Under such a strong perimeter defense as the Bulls, the Suns with an uneven lineup lost the game and their winning streak was interrupted.

  13 wins and 1 loss, failed to tie the 14-game winning streak record in the history of the Suns, but still ranked first in the league.

  The Bulls are 12-1, second in the league and first in the East.

   "King Kong, we beat you by 13 points, and you failed to rebuild." After the game, a happy Jordan walked up to Pharaoh and teased with trash talk.

   Pharaoh made 14 of 18 shots, 9 of 14 free throws, and scored 37 points and 25 rebounds. He performed well, but unfortunately he became the king of empty cuts.

   lost the game, he was a little upset, and his mouth was hard: "What are you anxious about? We didn't come together in this game, so you can win. I'll teach you a lesson next time."

  Jordan sneered: "I won because you let me. Your face is really big."

   "Anyway, I'm going to grab your championship, so you can't complete the three consecutive championships. Hey, I'm young, you're old, I'm going to step on you, let's wait and see." Lao Wang said.

   Looking at the back of Pharaoh's departure, Jordan's teeth itch with hatred.

   He won the game, but there was a strong sense of crisis in his heart.

   Although he did not attack with all his strength today, the Suns also lacked several players, and the Bulls only won by 13 points. If they meet in the finals, can they win?

   As soon as he thought of this, he immediately turned around and walked towards the general manager Jerry Krause, the dead fat man he hated so much.

   (end of this chapter)