Chapter 423 Old K: Should I go to junior high school for further study?

   That night, the other two groups continued the second round of G2.

  The Heat were still a notch weaker, and lost their second away game to the Knicks, who lost to Shaquille O'Neal.

   The Jazz, on the other hand, were stronger than the Blazers and easily won the second home game.

   No. 8, the second round continues.

   That night, at the Pacers' home court, the Bulls and Pacers took the lead.

  Rodman ended up with a back injury in the 6th minute of the first quarter. As a result, the Pacers had another victory and took a 1-2 lead.

   On the Suns side, the Supersonics took advantage of the home field and also pulled back a game.

   No. 9, the Knicks, who played away from home, lost to the Miami Heat, who were in great shape.

On   10, the Suns and the Supersonics started a G4 battle.

   After the rest of the last game, the main players of the Suns are back in shape, and Pharaoh is even more vigorous.

   But the same is true for the Supersonics. With the help of their home field advantage, they stubbornly gnawed at the score and hit the last quarter, and the score was still in a state of anxiety.

  In the 5th minute of the last quarter, when Chapman, who came off the bench, was chasing and defending to the basket, he was dunked by the rain man, broke his waist, and ended up injured.

   Lightning played 32 minutes, Danny Ainge decided to let Kobe play.

As soon as the rookie came on the court, he was very excited. After getting the ball, he faced the defense and forced a shot. He threw two three-pointers in a row. The Sonics seized the opportunity and threw two three-pointers in a row. Turned into a 4-point deficit and called a timeout.

The fifth was so angry that he directly pinched Kobe's neck and threw him on the bench. Kobe was quite aggrieved, got up from the bench and shouted: "My playoff shooting rate is 38.2%. According to probability, the first two If I miss the shot, my next shot should be close to 100 percent, and even if I go off the court, I should wait until I hit this shot."

   "You're a high school student, and you know the science of probability. If I let you play, do you take a chance and take a chance? Did you really wear the badge of the king of waves?" Old Wang cursed angrily.

   Kobe stiffened his neck and quibble: "Where do I have a wave? I thought I could hit it, it's just a matter of probability."

   "Shut up the rookie, if you lose this game, it will be really difficult to fight." Lightning also said.

   "Shut up, rookie, don't annoy the boss, we will pick up girls in the future, you won't even be able to eat scum." Horry also cursed.

   Kobe glared at Horry, what the **** is he to say about me?

  Chapman was injured, Kobe couldn't stand up, Wilkins was too old, Danny Ainge had to put on Lightning again and play double-control tactics.

   In the last half of the game, all the main players are on the line.

   "Give the ball to old K."

   At the critical moment, Danny Ainge had no other tactical arrangements, and only emphasized this point.

   At this time, the pause ended, and everyone stood up from the bench.

"come on!"

  Substitute players give encouragement to the main players.

   The five main players formed a group. Pharaoh stood in the middle and said to the other four: "You are responsible for passing the ball to me, leaving the offense to me, and we will kill them together."

   "OK." The other four nodded.

   "Kill them." Old Wang shouted loudly.

   "Kill them." Everyone drank.

When the main force was on the court, Kobe vigorously waved a white towel on the sidelines and shouted to the other substitutes: "All work hard, don't be lazy, we don't have a chance to go on the court, just go off the court once! !"

   Under the leadership of the rookie, all the Suns' substitute players waved up one after another, waving the white towel non-stop, just like the waves on the seashore, with its own scale.

Pharaoh came out of the basket and saw that Rain Man also left the paint area because of the defense for three seconds. The basket was empty. He immediately killed a carbine, quickly bypassed his defender Perkins, and cut to the basket again. .

  Kidd saw his open position in advance and passed the ball at the right time. He just cut into the paint, the ball came in front of him, and after receiving the ball, he flew up.

  Rain Man just reached the low post on the right wing, and immediately entered the paint area. Seeing Wang Tiejun cut in again, he immediately returned to the basket.

   "Boom!"

   The two attacked and defended, and took off at the same time, and a fierce confrontation and collision occurred in the air.

Although the Rain Man jumped high and fast, and had a lot of explosive power, the tonnage was not enough. Moreover, Wang Tiejun's explosive power was also very strong. With the huge tonnage, the impact force formed was so ferocious that he flew directly into the air. former.

   However, Pharaoh himself was knocked down. Before landing, he threw the ball to the basket, smashed into the basket, and did not go in.

At this time, the rain man fell to the ground and fell directly backwards, and Lao Wang stumbled back and stood up. In the next moment, he quickly got up again, pressed with one hand, and with a bang, he pressed the bounced ball back. in the basket.

"ah…"

The moment the fierce aerial confrontation occurred, the adrenaline of the fans was activated, and their emotions erupted like a rolling volcano, but just as the home fans' shouts came out of their throats, they saw rain. People were knocked over, so the shouting stopped abruptly, and they were blocked in their throats, which made them very uncomfortable.

"what!"

   On the contrary, in front of the Suns' bench, white towels were waved one after another, and Kobe and other bench players temporarily acted as cheerleaders.

   "Hoohooho..."

The rain man who hit the floor couldn't get up. The moment he just fell to the ground, he was out of breath. After relieving his breath, his mind was empty. He was panting. Pain.

   "Will it hurt again?" Su Qun shouted.

   "I can't tell you, it's normal for a few ribs to be broken by a hit in the air just now, but if you fall so hard, even the strongest person may be injured." Zhang Lili said.

   "Sean, how are you?" Gary Payton anxiously ran to Rain Man and asked.

  Rain Man's eyes fell a little dazed, he only glanced at Peyton, shook his head, and had no other reaction.

   "It's over!"

Gary Payton felt sad in his heart, and he also complained a little bit about Rain Man. Old K should let him buckle one. In that case, even O'Neal would have to give way. Are you going up there to die?

   The referee signaled to the Supersonic team doctor to come on the field, get people off first, and don't delay the game.

  George Karl shook his head in disappointment and put on the meat shield Ilwain.

   In the next game, with the end of Rain Man, it entered the rhythm of the Suns. The Suns took control of the situation in the last few minutes.

   After the game, on the TNT live broadcast booth, Bill Walton said: "In that ball just now, Old K jumped directly from the sideline of the paint area. There was room for impact, and the impact was very sufficient. The Rain Man obviously made a stupid decision."

  Bus Felton said: "The flying dunk of that giant beast is like a low-altitude dive of a bomber. The Empire State Building will also be blown up. No one in this world can stop it, not even O'Neal."

   In the CCTV live broadcast booth, Zhang Lili shook his head and said, "The Supersonics have played a few good games, but Yuren's impulsiveness is likely to make the team's efforts for a season go to waste."

  Suqun nodded and said, "O'Neal had to retreat in the face of Old K's flying attack, let alone a striker like Yuren?"

   Zhang Lili said: "Now that the Suns lead three to one, it should be no big problem to reach the Western Conference Finals."

  Suqun asked: "Guide Zhang, although the Suns lead three to one, it seems that it is very difficult to win the three games against the Supersonics. Can you give an analysis?"

   Zhang Lili nodded and said: "Don't underestimate the Supersonics, they have maintained a very strong competitiveness in recent years, both offensive and defensive, they are a very strong team.

   A team like them, under the leadership of Crazy Karl, has a crazy energy, they play well, they play crazy, any team can win, whether it is the Suns or the Bulls, they have won. "

   "That's it." Su Qun nodded.

   Zhang Lili continued: "The Suns have a good lineup this season, with 73 wins, a record victory. But we have to see that their main lineup actually has shortcomings."

   "Which place?" Su Qun asked cooperatively.

Zhang Lili said: "One is the lineup itself. The second position is always a problem. There is no main shooting guard who can match the tactics. At the same time, with the aging of the Lightning, except for the Tiejun, there is no other person. Having that great ball-handling ability that no player can do, I want to score and I can score."

  Su Qun thought for a moment, nodded and said: "It seems that this file, whether it is Horry or Rasheed Wallace, has average offensive ability with the ball, and there is no explosive scoring ability."

Zhang Lili said with a smile: "Whether their ball-handling ability is strong or not is actually not only related to their own technical ability, but also to the lineup and tactics. The Tiejun is in it, and they don't need to have a strong ball-handling ability, just wait. Just drop the vacancy."

   "Isn't this a contradiction?" Su Qun said in surprise.

Zhang Lili said with a smile: "Things are inherently contradictory, because the situation is changeable, under normal circumstances, they do not need their ability to hold the ball and attack, but when encountering a difficult team like the Supersonics, once they go crazy , then the outside needs a person who can break the deadlock. One inside and one outside, two cores, is the most correct choice.

   Now the performance of the Iron Army is too strong, which makes the Suns' tactical core focus too much on the inside line, which is actually wrong. "

   "Then what should we do?" Su Qun asked.

   Zhang Lili said with a smile: "This is the second problem I want to talk about, the tactical issue."

   "Tactics? Is it too focused on the inside?" Su Qun asked.

   "Balance inside and out is the best tactic."

   nodded, Zhang Lili said: "But tactics need players to execute, there is no such player on the perimeter, so this will always be a weakness of the Suns.

  The Lightning shouldn't be playing for long. Kidd is just a point guard and has the potential to be the king of waves. He can't take on the heavy responsibility of the core of the perimeter attack. Although Kobe has potential, he is far from reaching the standard.

   However, the training requirements of the Suns for Kobe, the ability to hold the ball is a very important item, which shows that the Suns management is also very clear about his training, and has planned the development of Kobe.

Therefore, the Suns should strengthen the training of Kobe. If Kobe can play in the future, the Iron Army and Kobe will form the core of both internal and external offense and defense. The lineup, or salary space, should be able to do this configuration. "

  Suqun said in surprise: "Then Rasheed Wallace and Horry are gone? The space is definitely not enough for them."

Zhang Lili said with a smile: "This is just my assumption. If the Suns really do what I think and build this iron triangle, then they have to reserve space for Kobe's contract extension, Horry and Rasheed Wallace. After the player's contract expires, there is definitely no way to renew the contract with a high salary, so there must be room for Kobe."

On the TNT live side, Bill Walton summed up after the game, saying: "Now the SuperSonics are one to three behind, and the next three games are one-to-one, so they have to win at least the next away game before they can return to home. , the situation is very bad for them."

   "Actually, the Suns played quite hard, and some couldn't live up to their 73-win record in the regular season." Busfelton laughed.

Bill Walton shook his head and smiled: "It's nothing, the regular season is the regular season, the playoffs are the playoffs, the Suns played so hard in the regular season, that's because old K wants to compete for MVP, so he doesn't hesitate to spend .

  Comparison from the lineup, the SuperSonics are not much worse than the Suns, that is, the No. 5 position is not as good as the old K, resulting in a low-post attack and rebounding that the Suns are not as good as, which is the main reason for their loss.

  Believe it or not, there may be teams with 73 wins in the future, but their performance in the playoffs may not be as good as the Suns. Excessive consumption in the regular season is not a good thing. "

   "Where's the bull?"

After the on-site interview, Pharaoh asked when he returned to the locker room.

   "Just received the news that the Bulls won, and now it's two to two," said Nelson Jr.

   "Ewing and Reggie Miller did a great job, fighting for the tiebreaker with Jordan." Pharaoh laughed.

   "They lost, if they knew about you, they would be **** off!" Lightning laughed.

  Lewis said: "We had a good day today. If we lose, it will be a 2-2 tie, which will be very annoying."

   Nelson Jr. said: "Playing the Jazz in the Western Finals should be more troublesome than playing the Supersonics."

   Danny Ainge nodded and said, "The next game is our home court, we will try to win it and enter the Western Conference Finals as soon as possible. We cannot be dragged down by the Supersonics."

  Pharaoh soaked in the medicine bucket, and casually asked the lightning next to him: "Kevin, you said you wanted to go into politics, what are your plans?"

Ahead of this, Kevin Johnson, who was sitting in the bucket, suddenly got excited and said with a smile: "I have made a plan to retire after the next season, and then go back to my alma mater to study political science, preparing to get a bachelor's degree in political science. "

   "Where is your alma mater?"

  Pharaoh never went to university, and he didn't finish the first year of junior high, so he still yearned for university more or less, so he asked with some envy.

   "UC Berkeley," Lightning said.

  Pharaoh thought for a while and said, "Kevin, I want to study like you, do you think I should go to a university for further study after I retire?"

"Ha ha…"

   Lightning laughed, and the others who heard it also laughed.

   "What are you laughing at?" Old Wang said unhappily.

  Lightning stopped smiling and said, "Old K, I suggest that you don't go to university for further studies. You just went to an elementary school, so you should go to junior high school first."

   "Haha..." The dressing room burst into laughter.

   "What's the matter, I have a secondary school degree, do you know that? It's equivalent to a high school degree." Pharaoh scolded.

   "No, the United States does not recognize any secondary school education, haha, so your education in the United States will always be elementary school, the lowest in the league, haha..." Kobe smiled while holding his stomach.

   "Damn boy, you are only a high school student, what qualifications do you have to laugh at me?" Old Wang cursed.

   "That's better than you, too." Kobe smiled smugly.

   "Tema's!"

   Old Wang cursed depressedly, go to junior high school to study, study ass!

  On the 11th, the Suns returned to Phoenix, waiting for the G5 battle.

   This morning, the Supersonics announced that the Rain Man Sean Kemp had mild strains in his back and waist muscles and would be out for at least a week, which means that the Supersonics were out.

   That night, O'Neal made a fuss, blasted Mourning, and led his team to the match point with a big score of 3-1, pointing directly to the Eastern Finals.

   At the same time, the Jazz swept the Blazers and took the lead in reaching the Western Conference Finals.

  12, the media praised both the Jazz and the Knicks.

   "The Black and White Shuangsha and the Death Light Gun form an iron triangle, which will have the strongest impact on the Suns, and the Suns' Western hegemony is at stake!" Los Angeles Daily.

   "We will be the champions!" The Salt Lake City Sports News touted the Jazz even more directly.

"The Sharks averaged 31.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game in the playoffs. He will be a real playoff behemoth after the old K. He will conquer everything. He will prove himself in this playoff. K is a super center in the same class." The New York Athletic.

   As for the Suns, local media do not speak, and foreign media are generally not optimistic.

"The 73-win Suns struggled in the second round. Old K averaged 43 points per game in the second round, but the team was still fighting the Sonics, which means that the Suns' strength was not in the regular season. With such a strong performance, whether it is the Jazz, or the Bulls, or the Knicks, or the Pacers, there is a chance to beat the Suns in the finals." The New York Times.

   The media also has a clear judgment on the situation of the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals.

"In the East, the Knicks are determined to enter the Eastern Conference Finals, but there will be a life-and-death struggle between the Bulls and the Pacers. No matter who ends up in the Eastern Conference Finals, they will face a big shark running rampantly under the basket. In the West, the Suns will A big fight with the Jazz in the Western Finals." The Washington Post.

   On this night, the Suns defeated the Supersonics without Rain Man at home, with a big score of 4 to 1, eliminated the opponent and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

   At the same time, the Bulls, who returned home, defeated the Pacers and took a 3-2 lead to get match point.

   The second round in the West is over, but the East continues.

   On the evening of the 13th, O'Neal led his team to defeat the Heat and took the lead in reaching the Eastern Conference finals with a big score of 4-1.

   On the evening of the 14th, the Pacers fought the Bulls at home in G6, and finally defeated the opponent with the advantage of the home court, and the two sides reached the tiebreaker.

   At this time, the media in Chicago was a little anxious, and they condemned the Pacers' home whistle for being too obvious, and the league was suppressing the Bulls.

   On the evening of the 16th, the last second round of the game started.

  This game attracted a lot of attention, because all the other games were over, and it was decided whether Jordan could make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, and the viewership rate reached 35 million.

Since the 1988/89 season, the Bulls, led by Jordan, have reached the Eastern Conference Finals for 8 consecutive seasons. If they fail to make it this time, it is likely that the Bulls have lost their competitiveness, and it may also represent Jordan. is losing his dominance.

   "This is a game that tests Jordan's dominance, 34-year-old Jordan, can he still play?" The New York Times reported on the front page of the roundup.

   (end of this chapter)