The Pope of Basketball Community

On October 7, the Knicks preseason kicked off, defeating the Chicago Bulls 89-77 in the first game.

The Bulls without Pippen are not considered a top team. Jordan was besieged, shot less than 40% from the field, and scored only 19 points in the game, which gave the team a bad start to the new season.

At this time, not only manager Jerry Krause, but even Bulls fans began to hate Pippen.

Pippen's contract is indeed too small now, but the year he signed it for 7 years and 20 million, Jordan's contract was only 7 years and 25 million.

At that time, it was rumored that the broadcasting rights would be sold and the wages of the players would increase, so both Jordan and the manager persuaded Pippen to sign a short contract, but Pippen didn't believe it, and couldn't stop it, because he was afraid that he would be injured and his future would not be guaranteed.

It's a pity that the NBA is not like football. When he left without paying liquidated damages, Pippen was upset. No matter how upset he is, he should not threaten the team by delaying the treatment of injuries. If the Bulls fail to win the championship in the end, he is a sinner.

Yang Rui felt that the Knicks played poorly as well, with no coordination on the offensive end. They played heads-up and didn't have fast breaks, so they weren't as flexible as they were in the summer league.

Van Gundy would have liked to do all the work alone, and he's a good leader for a dud. But he called a timeout to arrange defense, shrinking, double-teaming, and changing positions, and he didn't care about offense at all.

In the future, Van Gundy can lead the starting lineup of Sura, Wesley, McGrady, Huo Ershu, and Yao Ming to play the top three defenses in the league. He is really good at arranging the defensive system.

Thibodeau was holding a notebook on the sidelines, recording tactics like a good student, and studying hard. For Yang Rui, who likes to attack, the game is suffering.

It was only 1997, and Van Gundy was already a defensive paranoid. Yang Rui had been thinking about how to correct his approach. This style of play does not show Yang Rui's ability, and it is possible that Ewing will be used up during the season.

After thinking about it, Yang Rui decided to watch more and do less for the time being, listen more and talk less, let Van Gundy finish the preseason game stubbornly, and then find out his faults, lure him with profit, move him with emotion, understand him with reason, Guide it, and finally bring it to justice. (what the hell are you trying to do?)

Van Gundy has always disappointed the fans, so he did not disappoint Yang Rui.

The opportunity soon appeared. The Knicks lost two games in a row to the Nets, the players played in Van Gundy's way, and the offense was a mess.

Chris Gatlin and Jason Williams defended well, keeping the Knicks from hitting the paint.

Point guard Sam Cassell blasted Charlie Ward and Chris Childs.

No. 2 Van Horn also played well at home for the Nets, scoring 26 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, and made 4 of 6 three-pointers.

After the second game between the two sides, the coaches greeted each other, and Nets coach John Calipari took the opportunity to mock Yang Rui.

When Yang Rui went to the Nets to try his luck, the two had an unpleasant friction. Calipari had forgotten about this incident at first. Anyway, the status is so different that it is difficult to meet again. But in the summer, he saw the news that Yang Rui became the assistant coach of the Knicks and led the Summer League team to win the championship.

He suddenly became a little upset. The Knicks signed Yang Rui, who was actually the first assistant coach. It seemed that he didn't know people well.

He is not a broad-minded person, so he couldn't swallow this breath, and finally made up his mind to trouble Yang Rui.

"Mr. Van Gundy, I don't know what you think. You are already young enough, but you find someone younger than the player as an assistant coach, and you only get a salary and don't work. How can the Knicks play well? ?”

Calipari glanced at Yang Rui deliberately and contemptuously, and the provocation was over.

He thought to himself: Come on, fight me back, let Van Gundy know how arrogant and unqualified you are, and see how you will be in the management in the future?

If Yang Rui didn't fight back, Van Gundy wouldn't justify it, just as if Yang Rui was incompetent by default, it would be embarrassing. Once the seeds of "doubt" are planted,

If Yang Rui didn't have any real materials, he would be easily eliminated by the coaching staff.

Calipari still does not believe that Yang Rui is capable, because he is too young.

Van Gundy was in a bad mood after his losing streak, and just about to speak, Yang Rui rushed ahead of him, with... no anger on his face.

Yang Rui first looked at Van Gundy suspiciously, then looked at Calipari, blinked, with a confused expression: "Grandpa, although I don't know what kind of quarrel you have with Jeff, I shouldn't say such words sarcasticly. People, right? Yes, we are young, but how can you say that we don't work? It doesn't matter if you say me, but Jeff, he is the first to come to the team every day and the last to leave, how can you talk nonsense Woolen cloth?"

Van Gundy's face became even uglier, and he said coldly: "Mr. Calipari, this is the Knicks' business, you have nothing to do with it. Don't think that the Nets are better than the Knicks after winning two preseason games. Don't forget you guys Last season was just a bad team, see you in the regular season."

Calipari was stunned, a bit unable to react, is the script wrong?

Yang Rui said "Grandpa" and said he was stupefied. Although he has gray temples and many forehead lines, he just looks old, and he is only three years older than Van Gundy!

What Yang Rui said later made him even more dumbfounded. It was clearly a misfortune, and he pretended not to know him, as if he came here specially to target Van Gundy today.

But he couldn't explain it yet, and if he explained it, he would be bullying children, being narrow-minded, and appearing more smug. The only blame is that no one except him and the Nets manager knew that Yang Rui had gone to the Nets to find a job.

Van Gundy angrily walked towards the tunnel without looking back.

Yang Rui suddenly imitated Michael Jackson, turned around on the spot, raised his arms, pointed to Calipari lightly with Jackson's signature movement, and walked back smoothly with a moonwalk After a few steps, he faced Calipari with a smile, waved his hand as if saying goodbye, made another chic turn, and strode into the player channel.

Calipari was dumbfounded, and didn't catch his breath for a minute.

This person is too bad!

The players were all gone, and Yang Rui was the last to dare to play like this. If people see it, it seems a bit disrespectful to the seniors. There was no live broadcast of the 1997 preseason, even if the local stations did not broadcast it, who would know?

After two days of rest, the Knicks lost to the Heat and suffered a three-game losing streak. Ewing was still looking for a hand, and was defended by Mourning one-on-one. He made 4 of 16 shots and had no temper at all.

Houston performed well, but took too few shots, 7 of 9 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, only 17 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

The Knicks defeated the underdog Rockets 85 to 81, ending the losing streak, but more fans expressed dissatisfaction with them. The offense was too ugly, and it was all positional warfare.

After that, the Knicks lost to the Suns and the Lakers by a big margin. Ewing and Houston reduced their playing time.

It's amazing that Van Gundy really inspected the veterans, allowing Buck Williams, Chris Dudley, Bowie and others to play for a long time, and the results were terrible.

The team with the second highest salary in the league only achieved a record of 2 wins and 5 losses in the preseason.

P.S.