Basketball: Starting from the Rodman template

Chapter 147 Don't Underestimate the Heart of a Champion

For the entire season, Karl Malone, who averaged 12.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, was not too bad.

Even if he averaged 20 plus 10 per game with the Jazz last season, this number after coming to the Lakers is acceptable.

The positioning of the team will definitely shrink his data. Even Shaquille O'Neal's data has shrunk a lot compared to last season.Not to mention Karl Malone.

Another point is that he came to the Lakers to win the championship.

He will definitely not use his full strength in the regular season, so it is normal for the data to look "showing his age".

Karl Malone was almost as predicted by the media. When the playoffs started, he immediately behaved differently. In the first round of the game against the Rockets, there were a total of 5 games. In 4 games, he scored 17 points or more. One of them He even contributed 30 points and 15 rebounds; in the second round, he played the Spurs and met Tim Duncan at his peak. Although his performance was not as outstanding as in the first round, there were 4 games with double figures in rebounds!
Facing the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, he rebounded strongly in the first game, contributing 17 points and 11 rebounds. He contributed 2 "double-doubles" in the entire series, and scored more than 17 points in a single game three times...

Judging from the performance of these three games, especially when facing Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, the two top power forwards in the league, Karl Malone can still guarantee rebounds after a serious injury, and occasionally rebounds. I can talk to you and make you crazy.

But after the two finals, I only scored 4 points in the first game. I rarely recovered in the second game, but I only contributed 9 plus 7 data, and my shooting percentage was only 33%!

When Shaquille O'Neal was limited in his shots, when Kobe Bryant had a physical crisis due to guarding Hamilton, and when Karl Malone showed his age...

The Pistons beat the Lakers 2-0, which seems to be nothing strange?
Everyone gradually became convinced that this season's championship will belong to the Pistons!
In addition to the status of both sides in the first two games of the finals, there is another point. The current competition system of the finals is 2-3-2 mode.

After playing two games, a team with home field advantage will have to go through a "three consecutive away games."

In other words, the next three games of this year's Finals will all be played in Detroit.

With the Lakers' state at their home court, it's really hard to believe that they can make it out of the Pistons' home court alive.

However, this year's Lakers team is focused on "no one accepts"!
Before the start of the season, they were questioned by the media because of the atmosphere in the locker room. This season would be a failure. They made it all the way to the finals.

Now, they have once again slapped the media who looked down on them in the face.

In the third game of the Finals, the Lakers were defeated 99-90 in their first away game of the Finals, and were defeated "0-3"!
The big score came to 1-2, which also caused the momentum of external public opinion to stagnate.

The media who are optimistic about the Lakers have come out one after another.

As for the series, the games are played one after another. If you want to say which team in the league has the best ability to come back in adversity, it is undoubtedly the Lakers.

Their rich experience enables them to cope with any situation.

Including the current situation.

However, the Pistons also showed their resilient side at this time.

They didn't panic at all after losing their first away game. In Game 4 of the series, they played steadily, taking the lead from the beginning until the end, and finally defeated the Lakers 90-81, with a score difference of 9 points.

The big score came to 3-1!

"It seems that no one can stop the rise of this civilian team!" Bill Walton said at the end of the game.

The Pistons are definitely not the favorites to win the championship this season.

Even if some media predicted that they would reach the finals, no one thought they could win the championship!
But now, this team with not that big a name has defeated the star-studded Lakers in this series for the third time.This story is full of Hollywood blockbuster colors, making the name "Pistons Five" completely resounding throughout the NBA after tonight!

Another signal that convinced Bill Walton that the Pistons were going to win the championship came from the Lakers who lost tonight.

Already on the edge of the cliff, the existing conflicts within the Lakers team should not be further intensified, especially the conflict between Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal.Media footage clearly recorded that when Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant came together, neither looked at the other and passed each other by.

OK, the strongest "duo" in the league back then, has reached the point where they can't talk much without speculating.

No team can win the championship under such circumstances.

On the contrary, many super teams failed because of this situation!
In the fifth game of the series, the Pistons were at home in the finals. They didn't give any chance and defeated the Lakers 89-81 with a score difference of 8 points.With a big score of 4-1, they swept the "Purple and Gold Club" which was unrivaled on paper.

The Detroit Pistons win their third championship in franchise history!
When the ribbon symbolizing the championship floated down, every one of the Lakers looked livid, and it was extremely difficult to see.

Including Phil Jackson...

This not only means that he has lost in the Finals for the first time in his coaching career, but it also means that the Lakers will definitely be in for a big shock this summer.He wanted to threaten the championship so that the best situation for the old Buss did not exist.

And now Detroit's starting "Five Tigers" hugged each other immediately.

"This is what the five most correct people have brought..."

"Let us congratulate them and this Pistons team for winning the 2004 championship!"

Amid the passionate commentary, the audience cheered one after another.

Tonight in Detroit is destined to be a "sleepless night."

Then came the championship award ceremony. When Ben Wallace held up the championship trophy and kissed the trophy, Woody felt dirty watching this scene in front of the TV.

Ok……

There were waves of envy that kept rising.

Not only are they envious of Ben Wallace winning the championship, but they are also envious of the many big scenes they have experienced.

This is the Lakers "F4"!

Killing them and winning the O'Brien Cup among the current active players in this league is actually about the same as defeating Michael Jordan...

For Woody, winning the championship is very important, and what kind of opponent he defeats is also very important!

Curry watched helplessly, but it was okay.

He is not even close to the NBA, and he is nowhere near the Finals.

This championship trophy is not as tempting to him as the "Best Rookie" trophy in Woody's room.

Ben Wallace seemed to be really upset about losing the "Best Defensive Player Award". He also mentioned this matter in his speech: "I still don't quite understand why (the Best Defensive Player Award) It’s not mine, but now, I know, God wants me to get something better, I like this gain and loss, this feels really good!”

Then Tomjanovich, as the head coach, spoke. As the head coach of the Pistons team who had joined the Pistons halfway, he was under a lot of pressure at the time, but at this moment he did not say too much about himself, he just said lightly He said: "In this league, the media pays more attention to the stars with bright stars. The Pistons are in the corner of the stars, but we are good at stealing other people's spotlight. This is also the inheritance of this city!"

After he said this, there was a huge cheer at the scene.

Michael Jordan won the championship in 91, but he became No. 1 in the NBA around 88 and 89. At that time, he had already won the "Best Defensive Player Award" and "Regular Season MVP", but he was just like this A guy who combines offense and defense and has all the spotlight in the league, but he has been a foil to the Pistons in the playoffs year after year.

Just like the current "F4" of the Lakers, it serves as a "background" for the "Pistons 5 Tigers".

"Never underestimate the heart of a champion!"

The cheers cooled down a bit, and Tomjanovich shouted out his classic slogan again.

The Palace of Auburn Hills is buzzing again!Woody in front of the TV was excited when he heard these words.

He was originally eager to achieve the feat of winning the Pistons, but now listening to Tomjanovich's words, he felt like he was on steroids.He can't wait for the new season to start soon...

The final Grand Prize Finals MVP is announced:

Chauncey Billups became the final winner.

This can be regarded as the smallest player to win this award in the past years.

But looking at his stable performance in this round of the finals and his big heart, he does have the flavor of the finals MVP.

Moreover, as far as this team is concerned, whoever wins the Finals MVP is reasonable.

A total of 7 reporters voted for 4 results, which meant that Prince had no votes at all, while everyone else had such a vote.

So it looks like Chauncey Billups won this award, but in fact it was this team that won it together...

“They truly illustrate why basketball is a team sport!”

No matter which starter is missing from this team, they may not be able to win the championship.

David Stern next to him also smiled sincerely as he watched Chauncey Billups hold the cup.

He is still very satisfied with the script of this year's finals.

It is this kind of "fairy tale" that gives this alliance its foundation and foundation!
Early the next morning, this "fairy tale" also made headlines in major media.

It is worth mentioning that the Miami media feels that the value of the Heat's defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals is still increasing.

After all, the Lakers were eliminated by the Pistons 4-1, and the Heat were eliminated by the Pistons 4-1!

That is to say...

This year's Heat is equal to this year's Lakers!

We are runners up!
Anyway, there is no shame in losing to the final championship...

When the Indiana media saw this theory of the Miami media, they couldn't sit still.

If you want to put it this way, then our Pacers are the serious "runner-up"!

They played a full 7 games with the Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals. This is something that even the Lakers have not done...

When Reggie Miller saw that his team was "inextricably tied" with the final championship, he immediately announced that he would fight for another year.

His decision gave the Pacers management reassurance at the time.

Although, the relationship between O'Neal and Artest is too subtle, and Reggie Miller is really inseparable from being in the locker room!
Only with him here can this Pacers team continue to compete for the championship next season...

Of course, the reason why Reggie Miller is unwilling is not just that.

The Pacers are the team with the best record this season.

And this team is built by Reggie Miller with his age year after year.

Now that the flowers have bloomed, he will retreat immediately?

At least, let’s “see” it for another two years!

Woody officially threw himself into training.

The first phase of the training plan that Grover gave him;
Gain weight!

Grover plans to bring Woody's weight to 1kg in the next month to one and a half months!

That is 8kg more weight than before...

Originally, Grover planned to gain more weight. Anyway, Woody is already 19 years old, and his bone development has reached the stage where he can withstand high-intensity training.

However, the league leaked an announcement early that the league will cancel hand-check next season!

The so-called "hand-check" refers to:
In defense, touch the opponent's arm with your hand to entangle.

This kind of defense is a great test of the outside ball-carrying player’s ability to get rid of the ball, and it is also a great test of his shooting ability...

After cancellation now, it means:

Defenders can't just take the ball casually.

To put it more simply:
Some outside players with poor ball-holding skills can get an easier starting space; shooters can also get better shooting space.

This is also the rule, which means that starting next season, the frequency of outside players breaking through the basket will definitely increase.

This requires inside players to be more mobile!
The survivability of the "meat tank" is being tested.

Grover doesn't need to let Woody gain too much weight.With his height of 206cm and weight of 106kg, he is already very stocky!

This was because Woody expressed to him that he wanted to practice "back hitting" this summer, so the weight was just set, otherwise he would lose another kilogram or two...

Therefore, Woody's training content during this period is very simple. In addition to basic dribbling and shooting training, he just eats and eats, and then continuously consumes heat energy.

As for Stephen Curry, under the guidance of the trainer specially hired by Woody, he also strengthened the training of basic skills.

Stephen Curry has been practicing dribbling since he discovered his dribbling talent while training with Woody two years ago.But after all, it is not a "child's skill", and when practicing, he has many bad habits, which leads to a bottleneck period in front of him.

He can dribble the ball very smoothly, but he is always "stirring" in place and cannot change direction by holding the ball.

This is not something Dell Curry or Coach Drew can solve.

There must be a professional training team!
The effect is still very obvious:

Stephen Curry's ball-handling penetration and changes of direction rely too much on his ankle.

"This will increase his risk of ankle injury in the future... It is best to start training again and find other ways to exert force!"

This is the conclusion reached by the team of trainers after observing it for a period of time.

Stephen Curry struggled for two days and finally decided to start over...

(End of this chapter)