NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 158 Interesting Sense of Place (6000 word chapter)
On October 1999, 10, just before the start of the preseason, another blockbuster transaction occurred.

The Houston Rockets sent Scottie Pippen in exchange for six players from the Trail Blazers.

After the deal was concluded, the Trail Blazers' salary exceeded US$7000 million, becoming the only two teams in the league with an explosion of salary along with the Knicks.

The U.S. knife once again played a role, and the Trail Blazers transformed into a strong contender for the championship!
After the transaction occurred, James Dolan also commented on it through his own MSG program:
"You can't win the championship with dollars alone. The Trail Blazers have not established a team culture at all!"

Compared with Charles Sr., James Dolan is much more active and likes to express his voice through MSG's own TV station.

It's just that talking too much can sometimes offend people. Paul Allen doesn't like to hear others say that he is a rich guy!
Soon Paul Allen countered through the "Oregonian":

"What was the culture of the Knicks in the late 80s and early 90s?"

Hit the pain point!Many sports commentators believe that the Knicks are lucky enough to select an MVP-level player with the 18th pick.

The New York media is too lazy to refute these boring opinions. The Chicago Bulls are the lucky ones!

The Poisonous Dogs turned around after acquiring Michael Jordan. This is luck. The Knicks selected Li You. This is because the scouts did a good job.
Many teams in small ball markets have become frustrated again. The Trail Blazers are really rich.

In October, the Knicks have a total of 10 preseason games to play, the first 8 of which are all at Madison Square Garden.

The opponents are the same as in previous years, they are still Eastern Conference teams.

The Trail Blazers' big deal did not affect the good mood of New York fans. Tickets for the preseason games were sold out early, and the front row tickets for the regular season were sold out long ago.

The average NBA ticket price is actually not high. Last season, most teams were around $40, while the Knicks were $90.

The price increase did not stop the enthusiastic New York fans!
Not only are tickets expensive, but parking at Madison Square Garden is also expensive;
Entering the arena, an ordinary hot dog, a normal glass of beer, and a bottle of nondescript soda are all more expensive than other teams.

A Knicks championship hat even sells for $20, but tourists coming to New York are willing to spend money.

For a family of three to come to New York to watch a game, it will cost about $500. The location is not very good, and you may have to grab tickets.

Although the Knicks have the highest salary in the league, their ticket prices are also the most expensive in the league.

After offsetting each other, James Dolan did not feel any pain, but felt that he needed to spend more money.

On October 10, the 8 team members who flew to New York early did not focus on training. Allen Iverson and his followers went into the nightclub that night.

The next day, the New York media revealed that Iverson spent more than $2 and enjoyed a night of carnival.

Larry Brown can't restrict Iverson's private life. Fortunately, this is just a preseason game, so it will pass by turning a blind eye.

The 10th happened to be a Sunday, and before 20 o'clock, Madison Square Garden was full.

After the cheerleading girls danced, they also started to cooperate with the staff in warm-up activities, constantly throwing championship T-shirts into the audience.

In the MSG commentary box, because Marv Albert has not completely gotten rid of the scandal, this season, Mike Breen is still the chief commentator:

"The 76ers did not make many lineup adjustments during the offseason. It seems that head coach Larry Brown is still very satisfied with the current lineup."

Walter Frazier on the side took a look at the 76ers roster and secretly shook his head, but on the surface he praised his opponent:

"After two seasons of hard work, the 2ers should be able to realize their talent. Maybe they can take a step further this year!"

The two of them called the 76ers after calling the Knicks in the commentary box, trying to create an illusion of evenness for the fans.

But after the game started, the 76ers were in a normal state and were struggling.
Iverson's physical condition, which had been high for two days, was not affected too much, but he had a slow start.

Having completely transformed into a shooting guard, Iverson took frequent shots after the opening game.

Although it is only a preseason game, Larry Brown still wants to win. He deployed a three-forward lineup tonight to increase defensive mobility.

Bliss Irving, who just joined the team, serves as the 3rd position, George Lynch moves to the 4th position, and Te'lon Hill becomes the 5th position.

This lineup just corresponds to the short inside of the Knicks, and Larry Brown hopes that the team can speed up.

After missing three consecutive shots, Iverson caught the ball on the left wing and immediately released the ball with his left hand, making a breakthrough.

Relying on his extraordinary speed, Iverson almost wiped out Alan Houston's defense in the left block.

Approaching the paint area, Iverson did not choose to throw. Iverson continued to accelerate and seemed to want to complete a layup under the basket.

Noticing that Ben Wallace quickly rotated to the lower left side of the basket, Iverson faked a real pass and immediately distributed the ball to Te'lon Hill who was following up in the middle.

The latter caught the ball and wanted to jump directly in the paint area to complete the dunk. After catching the ball, he jumped into the air. However, Ben Wallace, who turned back to defend, jumped up high and firmly pressed down.

"Oh!"

One defense and two were successful, and Ben Wallace's mobility inside made the New York fans at the scene scream in surprise.

After completing the frontal block and the basketball bounced to the floor, Kurt Thomas immediately controlled the ball. Amid Larry Brown's shouts, the 76ers quickly retreated from defense.

Compared with the previous two seasons, the most obvious improvement of the 76ers is their defensive discipline. If the 76ers were in a bad period, they would have been overwhelmed by the Knicks' counterattack.
Larry Johnson made two dribbles after catching the ball, and then casually passed the ball to Li You on the side.

The opponent retreated quickly, and the Knicks did not push for a fast break. Li You, holding the ball in his right hand, slowly dribbled across the half court.

After several rounds of the game, Li You had completely found the feeling, and the metaphysical sense of position began to come into play.

On the left wing, Ben Wallace immediately stepped forward to pick and roll. Eric Snow saw his teammate Hill following him, pointed at the position, and then prepared to squeeze through the screen.

Ben Wallace had just stood at the three-point line, Li You quickly pushed the ball to change direction, Trojan Hill had just slipped to change defense, and Li You, who switched to his left hand, once again led the ball to the right front.

The basketball almost brushed the fingertips of Hill, who was changing defense, and passed in front of the opponent. He quickly squeezed between the two of them. Li You quickly grabbed the ball with his right hand, 45 degrees to the left, and drove straight into the basket.

The forward player's mobility is naturally better than that of the big man. Although Hill, who was switching defense, was out of position, he immediately faced physical confrontation and then quickly slid to the left rear.

George Lynch also began to retreat to the basket at this time, and the 76 team once again showed defensive resilience.

However, contrary to the expectations of the two defenders, Li You suddenly dribbled the ball behind his back when he was not in the blocking area. He once again switched to his left hand and took a big step. Then he started directly with Hill, who was turning to defend.

Li You suddenly increased his stride, and Hill, who was attacking his foot in front of the defense, realized that he was out of position.

Hill struggled to block the shot and turned to defend, hoping to interfere with Li You's layup, but in the end he could only watch as Li You held the ball with his left hand, lower left of the basket, and easily reached for the basket!
"Bang!" Gao hit the board and hit the net.

In the eyes of the fans at the scene, Li You's goal was very thrilling. Troy Hill almost blocked the shot and exclaimed, followed by loud cheers.

Li You felt extremely relaxed after completing the goal. After a few rounds, after he figured out the opponent's athletic ability and adjusted the position of the ball, he would have a goal that was close to being blocked by [-] million points.
At 4:12, less than 4 minutes into the game, the 76ers immediately requested a timeout.

Of course, you don't need to take it so seriously in the preseason, but Larry Brown has obsessive-compulsive disorder. The famous coach really can't stand this kind of easy scoring.

Artest on the bench was waving a towel and yelling. During more than half a month of training, he had been guarding Li You and partnered with "Xiao Ben". As a result, the two of them were abused every day.

I thought it was because of my lack of strength, but when I saw that the 76ers' defense was like paper, Artest regained his confidence.

"That's amazing, I knew it wasn't my problem!"

The buzzing Artest kept shouting on the sidelines and suddenly fell into a state of self-excitement.

Assistant coach Thibodeau subconsciously covered his head. After half a month of observation, he discovered some problems with Artest. The rookie was extremely emotional.

Moreover, the coaching staff simply cannot predict whether the impact of this emotion will be positive or negative.
This trait is destined to fail to become the true core of a team. Fortunately, the coaching staff positions Artest as a tool man and does not expect this newbie to become the team's third main attacker.

After regaining his confidence, Artest began to look forward to playing, and soon the opportunity came!
After Jeff Van Gundy realized that Li You was in excellent condition, he began to rotate constantly.

With 1 minutes and 5 seconds left in the first quarter, the Knicks' lineup changed to Chris Childs, Ron Artest, Tony Kukic, Rashard Lewis, Ben Wallace.

Iverson, who has never been able to find his touch, wanted to teach Artest a lesson in this attack and break through the defense smoothly.

Before he could be happy, Iverson was knocked to the floor by Artest who was overly excited and wanted to block the shot when he went for a layup.

The fall was heavy. Artest's block didn't touch the ball at all, but hit Iverson's arm.

The savage defense made the New York fans cheer loudly. Iverson, who had just climbed up from the floor, was furious. He immediately went up and pushed, but he failed to push.
After being warned by the referee, Artest felt that he was being attacked. He turned around and wanted to rush to Iverson and punch the opponent twice.

The 76ers players hurriedly pulled their boss behind them, looking at Artest who suddenly became extremely emotional and felt a little dizzy:
"Let me go! Let me teach that dwarf who only knows how to sneak attack a lesson!"

Tony Cooke helplessly hugged Artest, who kept yelling. His former teammate Rodman was cunning, but the man in front of him really wanted to punch.
After the conflict, the emotional Artest competed with Iverson. Facing the speedy defender, he was really difficult to defend. He received two fouls in the first half of the game and also made his opponent lie on the floor three times.

Larry Brown was so angry at the referee's loose penalty standards that he kept complaining after he was replaced with the main lineup in the second quarter.Sitting on the bench, Li You is still experiencing the metaphysical sense of position. After further improving his explosive power, his playing style can be optimized again.

Oakley, who is still adjusting his physical condition, has not yet appeared on the court tonight. Looking at Artest who dared to fight and fight hard on the court, he couldn't help but smile and said:

"I like this kid's playing style, but he's just not smart enough. He has to continue to carry the bag this season!"

Larry Johnson also thinks Artest is pretty good. Apart from being too emotional sometimes, he does have the potential to become an excellent defender:

"This guy's boxing skills are also good, but he is a little irritable. This kind of personality is indeed easy to target."

Character flaws are caused by his upbringing. What Li You noticed was Lewis. Compared to Artest, the newbie seemed to have adapted to the team.

Kukic can also dominate the ball. As a tall forward, he has a wide vision. Although Artest cut into all the cakes, his several passes to Lewis were impressive.

After Chris Dudley provided Lewis with an off-ball screen in the right block, Kukic immediately found Lewis in the right corner at the free throw line.

The latter received the pass, faced the defending Nazr Mohammed, and easily hit a three-pointer.

Secondary control of the ball, simple high-low cooperation, and sliding down or outside after the screen helps Chris Childs control the rhythm of the game.

Kukchi, who has rich game experience, has also found his position - a snake oil scorer.

Facing short forward players, Kukchi can also perform some misplaced punishment.

Although he didn't feel good tonight, Jeff Van Gundy on the sidelines was very satisfied with the content of the game played by Kuchi.

Chris Dudley had just eaten pie under the basket, and Jeff Van Gundy was on the sidelines loudly encouraging his players:
"Nice pass! Keep attacking like this and pay attention to protecting the rebounds!"

Except for the restless Artest, all the players who came off the bench scored.

With 4 minutes and 42 seconds left in the half, Artest received a cross screen from the baseline and finally scored 2 points under the basket after receiving a pass from Kukic.

Jeff Van Gundy still hasn't returned to the main lineup, and Artest, who scored points, seems to have suddenly opened up the second line of Ren and Du.

Then he also scored a three-pointer from the right wing, and finally broke through and caused a foul on the opponent. Artest, who had completely calmed down, finally found his offensive rhythm.

In the commentary box, Walter Frazier liked Kukchi’s performance very much:
"Every team needs a big man who can pass the ball. Pat is no longer there. Kukic can take on this task, but he needs to work harder on the offensive end. It seems that he has not found his shooting touch yet."

6 of 1, Kukchi just received a pass from Chris Childs under the basket and scored 2 points.

Commentator Mike Breen paid more attention to Li You's condition. He was deeply impressed by several pick-and-roll attacks after the start:

"Lee's offense is becoming more and more calm. If the quality of the cover is better, scoring will be easier!"

Like ordinary fans, Mike Breen didn't notice the changes in Li You's offense. After all, those few breakthrough layups looked very thrilling.

The point difference was completely widened, and both teams made frequent substitutions. Iverson, who was sitting on the bench, did not care about the result of the game. On the contrary, Larry Brown was still roaring loudly.

In the end, Li You only played 20 minutes in this preseason game, and the Knicks easily defeated their opponents 80:108.

Everyone made an appearance, and the New York fans were very satisfied. New aid Kukic and newbie Artest were not scorers, but the bench lineup could still help the team score points!
After Sprewell left the team, it didn't seem to have much impact on the Knicks. Seeing is believing, and New York fans were completely relieved.

On the night of the 12th, Michael Jordan appeared again in Madison Square Garden.

After becoming the director of basketball operations of the Wizards, McNair still maintained his airs, and the management could not get along with the players.

Wearing a black suit, McNair was booed by New York fans before the game.

Before the game, Mike simply said hello to everyone on the Knicks team and sat in the front row to watch the game carefully.

But as time passed, Mykou watched Li You twist and pass Stritland every time he paused slightly at the three-point line, and his brows couldn't help but frown deeper and deeper.

Even if the defender is changed, Mitch Richmond and Michael Smith are still passed easily.

Seeing Li You shooting Juwan Howard from the three-point line after a pick-and-roll, and succeeding in a facial shot, Maidun could no longer hold his nerve and cursed angrily:
"Fake! Squeeze through the cover and pounce!"

In this game, New York fans can clearly find that Li You's body is straighter during breakthroughs and his speed is not fast, but he can always get easy layups in the paint area.

The Wizards' defense is always just a little short of blocking the shot, but Li You can seize the gap and send the ball into the basket.

At the end of the half, Li You, who was at the top of the arc, suddenly stepped forward and directly intercepted Stritland's cross pass. It was 1 on 0 in the frontcourt and he easily made a powerful one-handed dunk!

At 42:58, looking at the 16-point difference, Michael Jordan, who was fully engaged, pursed his lips in anger, frowned, and the expression on his face was particularly ugly.

The on-site director frequently pointed the camera at McQueen, and the New York fans did not forget to follow suit.

Seeing that the score difference went straight to 20 points, Michael Jordan couldn't help but rub his eyebrows with his hands and cursed in his heart:
"Shet! It's so painful to watch you guys play!"

In one-on-one defense, Li You only needs to hesitate and shake at the three-point line, then turn his hips and accelerate. As long as he squeezes through the defense and grabs half of his body, he will most likely be able to complete the breakthrough.

In the paint area, Li You will not stop the ball, either directly attack the frame, or turn around and then look for opportunities.

The pick-and-roll offense is even simpler. Most of the time, Li You can squeeze through the defense. As long as the opponent does not double-team, he can score easily if he breaks out or shoots.

Catching small mistakes in the opponent's defensive position, Li You was able to find his teammates. The Wizards, who had average defensive discipline, were beaten through in the half.
Hamilton, who came off the bench, also performed mediocrely. Facing Artest's savage defense, most of his offense with the ball was weak.

This kind of performance also made Mai in the front row of the audience unable to shake his head. The expression on his face was "Take the ball and hit him"!
In the end, 82:110, the Knicks defeated the Wizards. Michael Jordan, who was sitting in the front row, had completely lost his smile at this time. It seemed difficult to accept that the Wizards had lost so much.

Michael Jordan, who was not in a good mood, put the management's airs behind him after the game. Facing an interview with the New York media, he seriously criticized the Wizards:

"Such a defeat is unacceptable. In my opinion, the Wizards team tonight has no fighting spirit!"

"It's unbelievable that we lost by 28 points. Although it was only a preseason game, I couldn't see the players' attitude of playing hard."

"If you can't put the ball into the basket, you should at least respond on the defensive end. If it were me, I would never let Lee score easily."

"The basketball game is very simple. Just defend the opponent's offense and then put the ball into the basket. I hope the team can cheer up for the next game!"

Perhaps in Michael Jordan's view, Stritland was just trying to catch a fish on the defensive end, but the actual situation is that the player has tried his best.
McQueen has not changed his thinking yet and demands Wizards players according to his own standards. The result is that this criticism has no effect and the Wizards continue to lose in preseason games.

In the subsequent preseason games, Li You began to conduct a large number of pick-and-roll offenses, leading the Knicks to continuous wins.

After watching too many thrilling defensive layups, New York fans were no longer surprised. Everyone realized that this was another improvement by Li You.
On October 10, 24:107, the Knicks easily defeated the Hawks, their last preseason opponent.

Mutombo stared directly at Li You after the game. He was suddenly exposed in this game.

Ewing, who flew to the away game with the team, couldn't stop smiling when he saw his friend's embarrassed appearance on the court. He would also mock him when he was enjoying the game.

In 8 games, the Knicks beat their opponents by 15 points in each game. Although some teams were not strong, the New York media was in high spirits.

When being interviewed by a reporter from the New York Post, the other party also kept complimenting:

"It's so exciting, Lee! Every offense is so exciting, the Sports Center must be busy, there are so many beautiful offenses!"

"Li, can you talk about your changes in the new season? I mean those wonderful breakthroughs, finding teammates in the gap, and unexpected layups, it's really amazing!"

The fans who didn't leave the field were still booing. Even if it was a preseason game, no one wanted to see the home team lose.

Li You, who had already changed into training clothes, just chuckled when he heard these questions, and then answered with a smile:
"Observe the position of the defensive players, destroy the opponent's defensive center of gravity, get close to the basket, and then just throw it, and you can score easily!"

"As for how to find teammates in the gap, it largely depends on the tactical arrangements of the coaching staff."

"Coach Van Gundy will make adequate plans for every game. We just implement the game plan customized before the game."

The reporter from the New York Post didn’t believe in the rhetoric of “throw it away”. There was no need to get to the bottom of it. At this time, he could only continue to praise:

"No one can guard against our pick-and-roll offense in the new season. Lee, do you have anything to say to the fans?"

Considering that there will be an award ceremony for the Knicks in early November, Li You did not forget to give James Dolan a shout:

"I hope everyone can come to Madison Square Garden to witness the team's fourth championship flag being raised!"

"Two consecutive championships. Mr. Dolan has put a lot of thought into our championship this year. I hope everyone will also like this special ring."

"."

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