Basketball's most talented forward is on the left
Chapter 900 Preparing for the playoffs, aiming for the championship! (Chapter 900 Sprinkling Flowers
Zuo Li's words diluted outside opinions, and many people began to analyze the Knicks' future potential.
The Knicks did not discuss any regular season topics internally. As Zuo Li said at the press conference, their season has just begun.
Moreover, the Knicks' playoff pressure this season is extraordinary and definitely not comparable to the previous two seasons.
In addition to being the defending champion, of course there is also the "damage" caused by the regular season record.
As early as 1996, when the Bulls won 72 games in the regular season, Bulls guard Ron Harper gave his teammates a T-shirt with the message "72 wins and 10 losses means nothing without a championship."
The Bulls also used it as a slogan during the playoffs.
In fact, as far as Zuo Li knows, the later Warriors did similar things in the playoffs that year when they achieved a record of 73 wins and 9 losses.
And why everyone knows the Bulls' slogan, but few people mention the Warriors' slogan, it is of course that the final results of the two playoffs are different.
It stands to reason that the Warriors' 73 wins were the best record in history at the time, breaking the record set by Jordan. It can be said to be unprecedented. In addition to the different times, the Warriors' 73 wins obviously have greater influence in the world, but when talking about
When it comes to the best team in history, the 73-win Warriors are not even in the discussion.
The fundamental reason here is the performance in the playoffs!
That season, the Bulls made it all the way through the playoffs, first sweeping the Heat, then the Knicks, and then the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls defeated the SuperSonics in six games and finally won the O'Brien Trophy.
The playoff record of 15 wins and 2 losses was also the best in history at that time. It was not until the Lakers in the OK era that they finally broke it. It can be said that the Bulls played the most dominant season in history.
Although the 2016 Warriors were equally strong after entering the playoffs, easily sweeping the Rockets and Trail Blazers in the first and second rounds respectively, they encountered obstacles in the Western Conference Finals and had to fight the Thunder in seven games before finally reaching the Finals.
Facing the Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers in the finals, the Warriors were reversed 3-1 after losing two games first and lost the championship. It is hard to imagine that a team that was invincible in the regular season would lose, especially to the defeated Cavaliers.
.
Therefore, a team that ultimately fails to win the championship is certainly weaker than a team that ultimately wins the championship. After all... if you are not even the best team of the season, how can you enter the historical level of competition?
This is the biggest source of pressure for the Knicks in the playoffs this season. As Jordan said in an interview after winning 72 games: "No matter how many games you win in the regular season, if you don't win the championship, you are nothing."
So it is conceivable that if the Knicks fail to win the championship this season, their experience will probably be no better than that of the Warriors in later generations.
No, maybe it's more serious because the media in New York is scarier.
Therefore, when D'Antoni and Zuo Li entered the locker room, they emphasized the importance of this year's playoffs.
In fact, there is no need to emphasize it. Everyone understands it in their hearts. What’s more, defending the championship is everyone’s dream here, so on the last media day before the playoffs, you can’t see it at the Knicks’ training ground.
If there is any trace of celebration, everyone is preparing seriously for the battle.
According to the schedule, this season's playoffs will officially start on April 18, and the Knicks will play on the first day, so the Knicks still have three days to prepare.
Of course, the first step in preparing for the game is to analyze the opponent. The rankings of this season's regular season are not much different from those in Zuo Li's memory. First, let's take a look at the Western Conference, which has nothing to do with Zuo Li for the time being.
The San Antonio Spurs had a record of 61 wins and 21 losses in the regular season, ranking first in the Western Conference. In the last few games, Duncan Sr. averaged 25,103 per game and led the Spurs to withstand the impact of the Lakers, and once again reached the top of the Western Conference after four years.
They are also considered the most secure team in the Western Conference, because behind the Spurs, it is simply a Shura field.
Ranked second is last season's Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers. They struggled to catch up at the end of the season despite some fluctuations in the middle of the season, with a record of 57 wins and 25 losses.
This record is completely consistent with the third-ranked Mavericks. The Mavericks, who also have 57 wins and 25 losses, are only ranked third because of their inferior record against the Lakers in the regular season.
Ranked fourth is the Thunder, a new force in the league. The rise of the three young men led the team to a record of 55 wins and 27 losses, which is also the best record in the history of the Thunder.
The fifth to eighth spots are the Nuggets with 50 wins and 32 losses, the Trail Blazers with 48 wins and 34 losses, the Hornets with 46 wins and 36 losses, and the Grizzlies with the same 46 wins and 36 losses!
It can be seen that the gap between the teams ranked fifth to eighth is very small, and the seventh and eighth teams even have the same record.
If you think that's all, you're wrong. Ranked ninth in the Western Conference are the Rockets without Dayao, with a record of 43 wins and 39 losses.
This is a team with a winning rate of over 50% in the Western Conference, but it can't even make the playoffs in the Western Conference. After the Rockets, there are the Suns with 40 wins, the Jazz with 39 wins, the Warriors with 36 wins, and the Rapids with 32 wins.
Boat.
In the entire Western Conference, the Kings with 24 wins and the Timberwolves with 17 wins are really bad teams.
Seeing this, who wouldn’t say: Awesome!
Seeing the state of the Western Conference, Zuo Li could only say that if the Knicks were in the Western Conference, it would not be easy for them to win 71 games. In this way, the first round of the Western Conference playoffs would be:
Spurs vs. Grizzlies, Lakers vs. Hornets, Mavericks vs. Trail Blazers, Thunder vs. Nuggets.
The Eastern Conference is indeed filled with bad teams, with strong and weak teams clearly defined.
In addition to the Knicks at the top of the list, the second place is the Bulls with 60 wins and 22 losses. After more than ten years, the Bulls finally returned to the 60-win club.
After the Bulls, the resurgent Big Three Heat ranked third with 56 wins, the Celtics with 54 wins ranked fourth, the Magic with 50 wins were pushed to fifth, followed by the Hawks with 44 wins and the Pacers with 39 wins.
The latter and the 35-win Philadelphia 76ers occupy the final two playoff spots.
Look at the West, then look at the East. The gap should not be too obvious. The Rockets and Suns are ninth and tenth in the West. Seeing this scene, don’t lament that you were born in the wrong position. You came to the East and entered the playoffs in a few minutes.
But there is no way, this is the current ecology of the east and west. The east is simply a welfare state for strong teams, while the involution of the west is really too serious.
The first-round matchups in the Eastern Conference playoffs are now announced: Knicks vs. 76ers, Bulls vs. Pacers, Heat vs. Hawks, Celtics vs. Magic.
Compared with Zuo Li's memory, basically everything has changed, but it doesn't matter. D'Antoni's strategy in the first round of the playoffs was to go out with all his strength, find form, and quickly solve the opponent. After all, the Knicks' playoffs have been from
The semi-finals will really begin.
The Knicks also submitted a 13-man roster for playoff 121 to the league on the evening of the 15th. They are:
Center: Zuo Li, Anderson, Ewing Jr.
Power Forward: Randolph, David Lee,
Small forward: Shane Battier, Danny Green,
Shooting guard: Bellinelli, Ke Liu,
Point guard: Curry, Dragic, Beverley.
Inactive: Jones.
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