NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 182 The best point guard in history? (daily chapter)
On May 2000, 5, fans who bought newspapers in the morning felt comfortable after reading the news from the New York Post:
"Knicks in Four!"

Compared with last season's playoff trip, the Knicks have an 11-0 record this year.

All the opponents they encountered were swept out. Before the start of the playoffs, they were looked down upon by a large number of sports media. In addition, all the sports commentators followed the Lakers and they became a little less confident.

But after three rounds of playoffs, the familiar feeling came back. When NBC was warming up for the finals and went to New York to shoot footage, some bulging fans did not forget to shout at the camera:
"We are the champion!"

"Fuck*!"

Farke Los Angeles is a way for New York fans to express their confidence.

The Lakers, who had been boasting for a season, really shocked the fans, and they shouted incredulously when they saw O'Neal's 60+20.

But after seeing the Lakers' performance in the playoffs, no one can boast about their dominance. For New York fans, O'Neal has become a paper tiger.
The main reason why the fans were inflated was that the Lakers lost again.

On the night of the 30th, the Lakers, who got match point and returned home, failed to end the series.

96:88，开拓者队将大比分扳成2:3的，G6又将回到波特兰。

出场46分钟，奥尼尔20中12，罚球12中7，31分21篮板3助攻2盖帽5失误。

The data looks scary, but as long as fans watch the game, they will realize one thing:

"O'Neal will also make mistakes when double-teamed."

Whenever Shark gets the ball in the paint, the Trail Blazers usually go for a four-man perimeter.
The Lakers had opportunities from the outside, but they made 27 of 6 three-pointers. The low-hip shots forced them to continue playing G6.

In the conference finals, a 1:3 deficit was reversed. The Los Angeles media no longer hates the team. Dominance is not important, as long as they can reach the finals.

From a ball commentator's point of view, the Lakers did not play any triangle offense in many rounds.

The back line is full of tools. O'Neal basically doesn't come out in the pick-and-roll, and relies entirely on his teammates to squeeze through the screen to complete the pursuit.

Asking for the ball in the low post, the opponent double-teams, and O'Neal distributes the ball. In individual rounds, the Shark is in a good mood, will do a pick-and-roll, and will work harder on defense.
What everyone on the Knicks team has to do in the past two days after returning to New York is to cooperate with NBC to complete interviews and warm up for the finals.

This process is familiar to everyone who has reached the finals for two consecutive years. Just interview and brag and express your wishes by the way.

James Dolan has some regrets. Most of these interviews are for players and head coaches. The team boss doesn't have much role, and he feels a little uncomfortable because he can't draw the pie.

On the morning of the 31st, Li You also accepted an interview with Jim Gray at the Tarrytown Training Center. Compared with other players, he had the most scenes.

The finals are the annual show, and the NBA attaches great importance to the packaging of star players.

In addition to the Knicks' three consecutive championships, this year's theme is also the showdown between MVPs.

Jim Gray has interviewed Li You for two consecutive years, and the two have become very familiar with each other.

Wearing a black vest and blue training trousers, Li You did not change his clothes intentionally. As long as they are not outlandish, the league will not restrict what players wear.

After completing the set, the staff started lighting. Li You looked at the black background behind him, and after sitting down, he joked:
"It's like this every year. Why not change the colors and add some post-processing? Young fans don't like to see these cookie-cutter backgrounds."

"Actually, our budget is not enough!"

Jim Gray also made a joke. After the two laughed, the staff signaled the start, and then asked seriously:
"22 years old, the youngest scoring champion, assist champion, MVP, and FMVP in NBA history!"

"You broke almost all of Magic Johnson's records, and now you're leading the Knicks to the Finals again."

"If you win the championship again, does it mean that you have surpassed Magic and become the best point guard in history?"

Hearing this question that has been a hot topic among football commentators recently, Li You just smiled and shook his head:
"Five championships, three MVPs, and three FMVPs. I'm very good at math, but I'm still far behind a legend like Magic Johnson."

“I know how difficult it is to win championships, and behind these honors lies the tremendous dedication of the players.

"The best in history is still too far away from me. After all, I am only 22 years old. I still want to continue to win."

Although the Lakers may be overturned, most commentators still default to the Knicks' opponent in the Finals.

Magic Johnson has been frequently compared to him recently, and fans also like to watch chasing history.

Jim Gray and the surrounding staff laughed when they heard the math problem.

The simple and crude comparison method also showed Li You's confidence. Soon Jim Gray asked the question he asks every year:

"Lee, let's talk about your expectations for the finals. Before the start of the playoffs, you were not favored, but after 11:0, the Knicks once again showed their championship dominance."

"Expectation? After the playoffs started, I took Shaq's words seriously and I accepted the challenge!"

Hearing Li You's words, the MSG staff filming on the side burst into laughter. O'Neal boomerang slapped his face, but Li You still had a chance to reach 15:0.

After the staff around him stopped making noises, Li You answered seriously:

"No matter who the opponent is, the Knicks will win the Finals. The lesson we learned from the 98 Bulls is that basketball is for five people."

"Coach Van Gundy has been controlling our minutes and our rotation has done a great job."

"We believe in each other and the team works together better than it did two years ago."

"I don't like losing. The Knicks will keep winning!"

"."

Some of the tidbits from the interview will not be fully aired by NBC, but MSG can show them in their own documentary.

In interviews, Li You mostly expressed his desire for the championship and the pursuit of victory, but Ewing was different. The gorilla forced himself to a higher level:
"The championship means a lot. I hope that through my performance, I can inspire more children to enter the basketball court."

"Stick to your dreams, God will never forget the children who work hard!"

Looking at Ewing chatting in front of the camera, Jim Gray felt a little helpless. The Balloon Star didn't have so many scenes.
The Knicks entered the promotion stage of the Finals early and did not have much drama on NBC, but James Dolan was able to express some opinions through his own MSG.

Including the famous players in team history, James Dolan's "Show Time" has indeed attracted the attention of many young fans.

Jeff Van Gundy frowns secretly every time he hears the big boss's point of view. Total offense and full defense sounds beautiful, but the team's configuration cannot meet such requirements.

After a day of interviews and training sessions, the bald young coach had to continue watching game videos with the coaching staff.

Assistant coach Don Chaney is more confident about the upcoming Finals, but Thibodeau is particularly cautious.

"We have a unique core of defenders in the league. No one can limit us. No matter who the opponent is, they must change their perimeter defense strategy."

Don Chaney felt more confident after watching G5 between the Lakers and Trail Blazers. Upon hearing this point of view, Thibodeau frowned and responded:

"But we can't predict the player's status, but it is an unchanging truth that the closer to the basket, the higher the shooting percentage. If you want to stop O'Neal, it is more reliable to commit a foul."

When it came to the finals, Jeff Van Gundy had no intention of changing the team's tactics. After hearing several people's discussions, he simply said:
"Adjust everyone's physical condition and leave the game to the players. When it comes to the finals, all we have to do is believe in ourselves!" Thibodeau did not expect that Jeff Van Gundy would lie flat again. He was very worried about the defense inside, but thought about it I thought, but I still didn’t say much.

At this moment, he suddenly realized that even if he arranged a lot, it was still useless. O'Neal destroyed the Knicks inside in the regular season.

Jeff Van Gundy always maintained a confident smile on his face and kept delivering chicken soup to several people without showing any trace of worry.

The coaching staff suddenly felt that not only the players had grown, but the head coach also seemed to be more reliable.

The Knicks' coaching staff predicted that the Lakers, who had got the match point, would end the game in G6, but the Trail Blazers were more tenacious than expected.

On the night of June 6, the two teams unanimously chose to fight against their main players.

15:26，开拓者队首发5人1分钟没休，首节比赛取得11分领先优势。

At half the game, the Lakers failed to climb out of the trap, and in the end, they had no choice but to lose on the road.

At 93:103, the Trail Blazers scored another victory. The series score reached 3:3, and the two sides will engage in a tiebreaker.

O'Neal and Kobe played again for 48 minutes, and Sabonis and Scottie Pippen only rested for less than 1 minute.

皮蓬6中1，罚球10中7，拿到9分6篮板4助攻1抢断2盖帽1失误。

Investing too much in defense, the data looked really stretched, but considering that the Trail Blazers could still win in this situation, the ball commentators suddenly became useless.

Bunch Wells, who came off the bench for the Trail Blazers, made 13 of 8 shots and scored 20 points, becoming the key to the team's win.

For the Lakers, Kobe shot 24 of 12 and 9 of 6 from beyond the arc, scoring a team-high 33 points.

Everything is possible in the tiebreaker. The Los Angeles media has lost its voice again. If this is going to be overturned, it will be nailed to the pillar of shame!
New York fans are hoping that the Trail Blazers will win so that the Knicks will regain home court advantage.

Jeff Van Gundy was also in a good mood when he saw the Lakers losing. Even if the opponent won the tiebreaker, there was not much time to rest.

On the night of the 3rd, while Milinda was finally busy with graduation matters, Li You also entertained guests at his home in Tarrytown.

Ivana, who returned to New York during the summer vacation, recommended a chef who was good at cooking Italian food, which solved the trouble of cooking at home.

Jin noticed that the chef was Mexican and soon started chatting with the slightly plump cook.

Milinda circled Ivana, her big eyes blinking non-stop, and she kept looking at the fat white blond rabbit.
Ivana, who was already a little uncomfortable due to her weight gain, was seen touching her face involuntarily, and subconsciously patted the dog's head to ease the awkward atmosphere.

Happy, the husky, has not been exercised for a month, and was fed fat by several people. He thought he had something to eat. After being touched on the head, he showed "intelligent" eyes.

"How is life at Georgetown? I've only been to Washington once!"

The lively Milinda has the attributes of being familiar with herself and makes Ivana relax in just a few minutes.

After noticing that Li You finished talking on the phone, Milinda chuckled and turned around and said:

"Today's law school graduation ceremony invited Ms. Ginsburg. You really should come and see it. Many alumni specially attended this event."

Most of Connecticut Law School’s famous alumni are members of Connecticut’s judicial system.

Throwing away the phone, Li You sat on the sofa and said casually:
"There will still be opportunities, right? When I graduate, maybe this justice will receive an invitation from the academy."

In time for the 2000 White House event, the recent graduation ceremony has turned into a political gathering. Li You has a big wallet, but he doesn't want to get involved in these things.

No matter which faction you belong to, everyone will buy shoes. Mark Parker has long reminded Li You not to show obvious intentions. The brain circuits of some consumers are sometimes difficult to figure out.

On Sunday, June 6th, before the tiebreaker of the Western Conference Finals started that night, in addition to warming up the game, the TNT program in the morning also discussed an interesting topic:

"Why don't the Trail Blazers insist on attacking O'Neal in the pick-and-roll?"

In the studio, Mike Fratello gave his perspective from the head coach's perspective:
"Damon Stoudemire is not Lee, or in other words, no other guard in the league has Lee's pick-and-roll ball-handling ability."

"When perimeter players can't hit those ball-handling threes, Shaq responds on the offensive end."

"It's a math question, and no coach is going to bet on the shooting touch of a perimeter player that night."

On paper, Mike Fratello talked eloquently, and even took the opportunity to analyze the offensive level of the league's backcourt players, and finally came to an obvious conclusion:

"Li You's three-point shooting with the ball is high and accurate. He is far ahead of all players in the backcourt."

As a championship defender, Kenny Smith gave his own point of view from a player's perspective:
"Faced with high-pressure perimeter defense, most backcourt players cannot attack calmly and independently."

"I know how to defend small scorers. The simplest thing is to give a confrontation, and then most players will keep hitting the iron."

"It's going to be difficult to run pick-and-rolls against the Lakers, and I don't think Damon Stoudemire is going to get as many chances tonight as he did in the last game."

Seeing that both of them rejected this tactic and reached a consensus, Ernie Johnson simply asked them about their predictions:

“Will the Lakers win at home?”

Mike Fratello did not give an affirmative answer, but said calmly:

"If the Trail Blazers can continue their defense from the last game, maybe they can turn the series around!"

"."

By the tiebreaker, the commentators no longer had confidence in the Lakers. In the game that night, after three quarters, the Trail Blazers led by 71 points, 58:13.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the Lakers were going to be out. As a result, in the fourth quarter of the game, it was the Trail Blazers who were counterattacked.

At 13:31 of the single quarter, the Lakers successfully won the game and entered the finals again after 9 years!
This kind of reversal made the Staples Arena completely boiling. O'Neal and Kobe even hugged each other after the game.

The footage of Kobe passing Pippen and throwing an alley-oop to O'Neal was played repeatedly on ESPN that night.

The NBA league is comfortable, Knicks VS Lakers, New York and Los Angeles, this is the best script!

On the morning of June 6th, everyone from the Knicks boarded a plane to Los Angeles, welcomed by New York fans.

Ewing has been in a good mood these days, and Jeff Van Gundy made it clear that the Finals will increase the gorilla's playing time.

Larry Johnson looked at the gorilla's smiling face and couldn't say much. He touched his bare head and finally could only whisper a few words to Li You:
"Pat can't limit his opponent. His physical condition is no better than mine!"

Li You was particularly optimistic about this. Although his newly acquired talent was useless, he still confidently fist bumped with "Auntie" and said:
"As long as we can consume our opponents, whether we can win the game still depends on our shooting touch."

".."

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