Chapter 397 The selection of the fifty superstars begins

   After playing in Philadelphia, the Suns came to Chicago the next day.

   For the Suns who have won five games, some media and industry figures have commented.

In an interview with the media, Heat coach Pat Riley was asked about the performance of the Suns this season and said: "The current five-game victories can't explain the true strength of the Suns, and the next game with the Bulls will test their performance. The real strength, we can see whether the Suns have the strength to rush to the championship. But from the first five games, we can still see a lot of things.”

   "Like what?" the reporter led the question.

Pat Riley smiled and said: "Let's talk about their weaknesses first. First, they can only use Wilkins as a backup at the 3rd position, and in fact Wilkins is their starting shooting guard. , This shows that the Suns are short of people at the 3rd position. Once an injury occurs, a veteran like Wilkins is likely to suffer an injury, and they will be short of people, even the 3rd position, which will affect the The use of the second position on the player.

  Second, the second position is their most uncertain factor. Let Wilkins play a fake starter at the second position. What does this mean? It shows that they don't really have the main shooting guard that they can make.

  Chapman is a role player, and he is a glass man. He is enough for 30 minutes, and Kobe is just a rookie, so the No. 2 position is the biggest weakness of the current Suns. Once someone is injured, it will be difficult to handle.

Now they have these two main weaknesses, with their lineup, it is difficult to make adjustments, because Wilkins and Chapman are paid minimum salary, they can't find a good small forward or shooting guard through trade. to be the main force.

   And these two problems will not be solved for the time being. Unless the rookie Kobe can grow up, these two weaknesses will always exist. As for whether Kobe can grow up, this is an uncertain question. "

   "If there are weaknesses, then there should also be strengths, right?" the reporter asked.

Nodding, Pat Riley said with a smile: "Their advantage is still in the interior. Rasheed Wallace has become the main power forward. He has performed very comprehensively in these five games. The offensive end can help Lao K open the defense. The defensive end can follow out, letting Old K sit at the basket and share a lot of defensive pressure.

   Such a combination of offensive and defensive insiders can be called the top two in the league. Only the combination of O'Neal and Oakley can be compared. "

   "Coach Riley, what do you think about the performance of old K?" The reporter asked a new question.

   "Old K? I know what you are asking. After the introduction of the K law, the performance of old K this season is indeed very different from the past."

Pat Riley nodded and said while thinking: "The most lethal thing is to be limited by hitting, which makes him unable to create a strong and terrible deterrent to his opponents, and his dominance has indeed declined a bit, which used to be Five games can be seen.

   His data in the first five games should be 36 minutes per game, 30.4 points, 16.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 3.8 blocks. "

   "You are very clear about his data." The reporter said with a smile.

  Pat Riley laughed and said: "Of course, even if he is such a giant beast, even if he is entrenched in the west, thousands of kilometers away, I can't ignore his existence."

Then he added: "From the analysis of this data, we can see a lot of changes about the old K. First of all, his shooting percentage has dropped from 65.4% last season to 62%. There is no doubt that the K-law's shooting percentage has dropped to 62%. The introduction has an impact on him, but the impact is not as big as some people expected, only a drop of less than 4 percentage points, which is even the first offensive efficiency in the league.

   From the analysis of his shooting area, the percentage of the basket is 45%, the nearly two points are 50%, and the two points are 5%, returning to the level of his rookie season, which is of course the change caused by the influence of K-law.

He has fewer offenses at the basket, less than O'Neal. O'Neal is more flexible and easier to get to the basket than the old K. In the first five games of this season, his attack at the basket accounted for 54%, 9 percentage points higher than the old K. This is very high, much higher than the three super centers. "

   "Coach Riley, what do you think the specific impact of the K-law on the old K?" the reporter asked.

Pat Riley said with a smile: "First, the ability to break double teams. In the past, he could use that tyrannical continuous sideways hits to break through double teams, and even won the title of a sweeper in the penalty area for this, but Now he doesn't have such a tyrannical ability to break double teams, and he is not as flexible as O'Neal, now it should be slightly worse, which is also the main reason for his reduction in offense at the rim.

Second, after low-position back play, which limits the sideways play, his speed to get to the basket is not as fast as before, because in the complete back-up state, his turning speed is not as good as O'Neal's, and it should be slightly worse, which is also his One of the important reasons for the decrease in the number of offense at the basket.

   The third and last point is that without the lethal side-by-side attack, he also lost his strong deterrent to the opponent, and the opponent dared to double-team him more closely, which is also the reason for his drop in shooting percentage. "

The reporter asked again: "So Coach Riley, do you think the old K will be ordinary like this?"

  Riley laughed twice and said, "You heard that string of data just now. Do you think he can play such an all-around super beast in 36 minutes. Will he be an ordinary person?"

  The reporter nodded involuntarily, and Pat Riley continued: "Just from the first five games, the K-law does have some influence on him, but he can't be ordinary.

   Of course, he still needs to be tested by more and more powerful opponents, especially against super centers of the same level and those with strong defenses, otherwise we will not be able to determine how much the K-law has really affected him.

   But judging from the current performance, he has lost the most powerful play, and his low-post attack has become more flexible and variable than before.

He is proficient in everything from back play and sit play. He is also proficient in finishing moves such as hooking, throwing, and hitting the board. Under the care of K-law, he is still a big killer in low-position offense, ranking first in the league. Offensive efficiency speaks volumes.

   Here I would like to criticize O'Neal. With 9% more offense at the basket, your offensive efficiency is not as good as that of Old K, which means that you are a little worse than Old K in terms of nearly two-point shooting. Old K's nearly two-point shooting rate can reach 55%, while you only have 43%, a huge gap of twelve points. "

Speaking of which, he said with some emotion: "The introduction of Jordan's Law back then could be said to have made Jordan great. Today's introduction of K-law is hard to say at present, the time is too short, we need more time to observe, but Only the current performance, the old K is likely to achieve the same performance as Jordan."

   "Will he show the same greatness as Jordan?"

The reporter was a little surprised at first, but immediately nodded in agreement, and said, "On the basis of his average performance of 40+ in the regular season last season and his great performance in the 1995 Finals, he can indeed be called great. "

Then he raised another question and asked: "Coach Riley, the league has celebrated its 50th anniversary. I heard that the selection of the 50 superstars will be launched in the near future. What kind of position do you think Old K will occupy in it? ?"

This question made Pat Riley think for a while, and then said: "You said just now, based on his average performance of 40+ per game last season and his great performance in the 1995 Finals, his status is in the big dream. Among the super center, there is a kind of detachment.

  Yes, detachment, he has been detached from Dameng and the other super centers by virtue of his performance in the past few seasons, so I think his historical status in the top 50 superstars should also be higher than Dameng and them. "

  …

   is also a coincidence. When the Suns arrived in Chicago, it was noon, and the NBA officially held a grand press conference to officially announce the selection of the top 50 superstars.

The NBA official seems to attach great importance to the selection of the top 50 superstars, and the promotion is very strong. From last year to this year, almost all heavyweight media were invited to today's media conference, and even a large number of overseas media were invited to live broadcast this time. There are dozens of TV stations holding the conference.

   Announced by David Stern himself, the event will start on November 15th and be completed by the end of December for a period of one and a half months.

   For the specific selection method, the league invited thirteen most famous NBA basketball reporters and NBA commentators, as well as 37 retired players and coaches (players cannot vote for themselves) to form a selection team of fifty.

  The selection of such a selection team is to prevent active players from gaining a greater advantage under the pursuit of the media, so only thirteen media people were selected to participate in the selection.

The judging panel will be based on the number of All-Stars, All-Star AMVPs, various data kings, the number of best lineups, the number of best defensive lineups, the number of regular season MVPs, the number of championships, the number of Finals FMVPs, peak season data, career Data and other honors will be selected, and the league officials will conduct an award ceremony during the 1997 Cleveland All-Star halftime.

   In addition, the top 50 superstars will be selected in no particular order, but only in five positions.

  In the hotel, as soon as he settled down in his room, Pharaoh turned on the TV, sat down at the end of the bed, and watched the live broadcast of the press conference.

   "Looking from last year to this year, it finally started."

   He was a little excited and excited, and hoped to get a good ranking in the selection of the top 50 superstars.

   He, who does not know much about NBA history, is not very clear about whether he can enter the 50th National Congress.

However, according to many media sources, it is generally believed that he will definitely be selected into the ranks of the top 50 superstars. Out of respect for the media, he also naturally believes that he has already entered the top 50. The problem is only the position of the ranking. .

   "Hey, old K..."

   At this moment, Lightning pushed in the door, sat down next to him, and said with a smile, "I bet your position must be in front of Big Dream."

   "That's for sure." Old Wang laughed.

   "I'll bet on the top 20. If you win Lao K, you will have ten times to eat the brood, and if you lose, I will invite you once." Horry ran in, giggling and joking.

   "Haha, Robert, I have invited me ten times." Pharaoh was very happy, and his face blossomed with a smile.

   But Stern immediately announced that the selection will not be ranked first, which made him put away his smile and said angrily: "I haven't ranked for a long time, so what is there to evaluate?"

   "It's good to be selected for the 50th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, why don't you let me?" Lightning said angrily.

   "Haha, that Kevin, I'll treat you ten times to eat brood." Old Wang said with a smile.

   "I knew you couldn't bear it." Lightning laughed.

  …

   No. 11, the Suns challenge the Bulls away.

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

  Suns: Wang Tiejun, Rasheed Wallace, Robert Horry, Wilkins, Kevin Johnson.

   Bulls: Rick Schmitz, Rodman, Pippen, Jordan, Ron Harper

  The game was broadcast live nationwide by TNT, with commentators by Marv Albert and Kevin Harlan.

Albert analyzed: "The Bulls don't have much reinforcement. After the end of the contract of Clifford Robinson, he did not renew the contract with the Bulls. He went to the Blazers. West got their main force from the Pacers for 8 seasons. Center Rick Schmitz, they have Ewing, there's no room for Schmitz."

Kevin Harlan said: "Rick Schmitz was the Pacers' No. 2 pick in 1988. He is 30 years old this year, and his strength is very good. Last season, he averaged 17+7 per game, no worse than Clifford Robinson. ."

   nodded, Albert said: "And he still has a height of 224 cm. Facing the old K, he has no height disadvantage. He has comprehensive skills and good physical fitness, but the tonnage is only 120 kg, and his fighting ability is not enough.

   But now that the K-law is introduced, the old K's strong confrontation ability is limited and the lethality is reduced. He is more fortunate than Clifford Robinson. "

Kevin Harlan laughed a few times and then said: "Don't underestimate Clifford Robinson. The Bulls suffered so many inside injuries under Old K. He was the only one who saved himself. In the matchup with Old K, he Played pretty smart."

   At this time, in the player tunnel, the two teams met in the starting lineup.

   greeted Jordan, Pharaoh began to tease Pippen and asked, "Second Pi, if Jordan goes to the Knicks, you can be the boss, but unfortunately, he didn't give you this opportunity."

   Before Pippen could speak, Rodman, who was beside him, turned his head and looked aside, obviously not interested in what Pharaoh said.

   "I'm very satisfied now." Pippen snorted coldly.

   "Old K, don't provoke us." Jordan said dissatisfiedly.

Now there are indeed some problems in the Bulls' locker room. Rodman is not satisfied with Pippen, wants to fight for the second position, and often misses training. The locker room has accumulated a lot of contradictions and problems, but he does not want to make a big fuss and expose it to his opponents. , want to suppress the inside of the locker room to resolve the conflict.

   And the relationship between himself and general manager Jerry Krause not only did not ease, but got bigger, because the fat pig actually wanted to trade Pippen, but fortunately he stopped it.

  Pharaoh looked at the bulls, and seemed to understand something, and suddenly burst out laughing.

   "What are you laughing at?" Jordan said angrily.

   "Jordan, are you fighting in-fighting?" he asked curiously.

   "Huh?" Lightning and the others looked over in surprise.

   "Don't bullshit, our locker room is more stable than an iron plate." Jordan opened his eyes and talked nonsense.

   "Hehe, listen to me, Jordan, beat the disobedient guy to death and he will obey. This is my suggestion to you." Old Wang said with a smile.

   "Michael, don't listen to him." Rodman hurriedly said.

"Ha ha…"

  Pharaoh laughed even more and joked: "Don't make a fool of yourself, big worm, it seems that you yourself think you are disobedient?"

"Humph!"

  Rodman turned his head, disdain for sophistry at all.

"This guy?"

   Looking at the old K who was leaving, Jordan looked very serious.

This season's Suns, although there are still some problems with the configuration of the second position, the inside line combination is obviously more reasonable than last season, and the Mosaic Big Three is gone, the West can stop the Suns, that is, the Jazz and the SuperSonics are somewhat qualified , after they reach the finals, it is likely to face the Suns again.

   In 1993 and 1995, he met the Suns in the finals twice, and he was defeated twice by the old K, which left him fresh in his memory and did not dare to be careless.

   In fact, he did not admit defeat to Barkley. The most unfortunate thing was that the three-peat defending failed in 1993. The main reason was that no one in the Bulls could fight against the old K, and it was not Barkley who decided the winner of the finals.

   (end of this chapter)