The rest is just noise

Benjamin Wilson's offensive attack gave Pat Riley butterflies in his stomach.

For the first time, he had the idea of ​​"Maybe we shouldn't be superstitious about singles." Before the game started, he would never have had this idea, but Louis gave him a "surprise", which of course can also be said to be a shock.

.

The essence of the roll call tactic was thoroughly reflected in Wilson.

Through constant pick-and-rolls, the Knicks can expose the Blazers' weak points on the defensive end to Wilson's butcher's knife one by one.

Barkley, Nance, and Wilson can forcefully break down the ball with their speed.

Thomas is a small guard that Wilson can do whatever he wants.

In addition, Wilson was feeling great tonight. In the second half of the first quarter, when Louis was determined to carry out the roll call tactics to the end, the Blazers responded passively, even better than Jordan, and were suppressed.

Wilson scored 18 points in a single quarter, leading the Knicks into the second quarter with a score of 29-22 in the tiebreaker.

In addition to scoring, Wilson also scored 4 rebounds and 2 assists. The data of 18+4+2 in a single quarter is incredible in the finals.

What's more, this is a tiebreaker.

"Bill, Erwin, what do you think of Benj's performance in the first quarter?"

Bob Costas asked during a break.

Laimbeer criticized Jordan: "I think Michael didn't do a good enough job. No matter whether he was defensive or offensive, he was a step behind Benj. Game 7 of the Finals is the biggest stage in the NBA. If he wants to prove that he is

The ruler of this generation must stand up in this kind of competition."

The tragedy maker had a different view: "I don't think Michael will back down in this situation. He still has three quarters of time to respond. On the contrary, it's Benj. I think he made too many personal attacks. Although he shot

He scored those goals, but if he can't find a way to activate his teammates, he won't be able to continue this momentum. It will be difficult for him to extend his feel from the first quarter to the last three quarters, because the Trail Blazers will defend him more roughly."

For the Knicks, Louis adjusted the lineup.

He replaced Rauf, replaced Stockton, replaced Stevens, and let Kemp play the fourth position.

Finally, his eyes fell on John Seeley.

Selly held his breath, longing to stand on the garden floor again.

However, Louis did not name him, but looked at him deeply and then turned to Ewing: "Patrick, I think you have rested enough."

As a result, the Knicks' second lineup is basically determined.

Louis did not replace Wilson, who played the entire first quarter, and also played the transition period with the Knicks' most common lineup.

"Letting Benj call his name is still our regular play. At the same time, we also have a great advantage inside, so the offensive end must assess the situation and launch the offense in the most reasonable way."

As for defense, there is no need for additional arrangements from Louis. This is the guy who feeds the Knicks, and the players know what to do.

On the other hand, the Trail Blazers replaced Barkley, Robinson and Nance, allowing Thomas and Jordan to pair with Jerome Causey, Xavier McDaniel, and Anthony Mason.

If Thomas were replaced by Clifford Robinson, this would be the Verdun Line of Defense.

But Louis did not rule out Reilly using the Verdun Line that included Thomas.

The Knicks have the right to kick off the second quarter.

Ewing passed the ball to Stockton, and the position of the Blazers players let them know that the opponent was not going to let them pass halftime easily.

Jordan, Cosey, and McDaniel pressed in the frontcourt, Thomas was on standby in the midfield, and Mason guarded the backcourt.

This is a 3-1-1 formation, but the Trail Blazers' purpose does not seem to be to force the Knicks to make mistakes, but to affect the shooting feel and slow down the Knicks' offensive rhythm based on sufficient physical confrontation.

Stockton struggled to carry the ball across half court and handed it to Wilson.

Wilson waved Ewing's pick-and-roll.

Ewing's pick-and-roll quality is the best. If he stands there, even Jordan can't get past him.

But the Trail Blazers have already designed for this situation. They don't use a big center in order to be able to quickly switch defenses at this time.

Mason pushed his extremely strong muscles in front of Wilson.

But Wilson was not as energetic as in the first quarter. He wanted to find his teammates more than attacking personally.

However, the Blazers did not deploy too many manpower to defend him, so no teammate was left open.

Wilson lost his offensive rhythm and could only stop the ball and wait for a response.

It can be said that this was an offensive interruption caused by an error in on-the-spot judgment.

Wilson felt so good in the first quarter, he should continue to attack, which is why Louis let him play continuously in the second quarter.

But Wilson seemed to overcomplicate the problem.

He remembered the damage his previous lone-wolf style had caused to the team. The guilty conqueror even saw the disappointed eyes of his teammates during singles, so he stopped taking action, even if he was feeling strong.

The lesson at hand made him restrain his desires, but for Louis, this was a typical "right wrong choice".

His idea is correct, but considering that the Knicks need a burst point to deform the Blazers' defense, and Wilson happened to play this role in the first quarter, he needs to continue to do that, but he did not.

Wilson stopped the ball, leaving only 6 seconds left in the Knicks' attack time.

Stockton got the ball from the outside and had no one to pass it to, so he was forced to choose a three-point pull-up from behind.

This scene needs to be as abstract as possible.

But considering that the target of his pull-up defense is Thomas, it seems quite reasonable?

Stockton, who had a mediocre presence throughout the series, finally left his own highlight.

This buzzer-beating pull-up three-pointer against Thomas was made.

32 to 22

The Knicks' lead reached 10 points.

In the frontcourt, the real changes for the Blazers occurred.

Thomas dribbled the ball and showed disdain for Stockton's defense. After a strong change of direction, the latter's defense was already broken.

This gap has become so big that even Stockton can't play dirty if he wants to.

Thomas left Stockton far away and shot an arrow from outside the paint area. The ball passed Ewing's fingers and hit the board.

Louis had a feeling that Riley had copied it again.

He can't say that the Blazers' attack just now was also a roll call, because the roll call tactic is to point out the loopholes in the opponent's defense, and the matchup between Thomas and Stockton is a natural asymmetrical matchup.

In order to confirm whether his judgment was correct, Louis signaled Miller and Stockton to switch defenses.

Miller's defense is not very good among the Knicks, but it is average in the league. He has very fast feet. Although he will be passed by Thomas in one step, he can entangle him later and use his long arms to interfere. Now Thomas is gone.

With his youthful explosiveness, if you are looking for a one-on-one partner, Stockton is definitely a better choice.

The Knicks were blocked by the Trail Blazers on the offensive end. According to the tactics, Miller should have a chance to run, but the opponent's defense followed him closely and switched defenses so quickly that he didn't give any chance at all.

Wilson's pass found Miller, but the chance was not good.

There was not much offensive time left, so Miller had no choice but to force the shot.

McDaniel, who had switched defenses, invaded Miller's cylinder like a mad dog, causing the latter to fall to the ground unsteadily. This time, Miller scraped his ankle.

Miller missed a three-pointer, and the Blazers had a chance to counterattack.

Thomas was dribbling the ball and preparing to accelerate, and Stockton finally caught the opportunity.

He took advantage of the position and sent a claw attack directly in front of Thomas that even the audience in MSG didn't see.

The referee reluctantly gave the whistle, but Thomas went berserk on the spot, jumped up and pushed Stockton down.

Just because he was so energetic after getting up, Louis was sure that Stockton missed the target, and the subsequent conflict did not spread further. The two sides exchanged trash talk, Stockton was called for a blocking foul, and was also called for a blocking foul by Louis.

Replace.

"Coach Lu, don't replace John, that's all he can do!"

The man speaking was Woody Allen, the Knicks' top celebrity fan before Spike Lee.

If Director Li is Miller Black, then Allen is Stockton Black.

Even though Stockton was the core guard of the Knicks' five consecutive championships, he still couldn't get his approval. This can't be blamed on Allen. He became a Knicks fan in the early 1970s. Who was the leading guard of the Knicks at that time?

?It's Walter Frazier and Earl Monroe. The former is Dr. J in New York, and the latter is known as the Black Jesus who has a different offense every time and has a very ornamental style of play. However, Stockton always uses

A white defender who plays the same way and is not entertaining at all.

Louis will not be influenced by others. He replaced Stockton not to calm the incident, but to see if the Blazers really used the roll call tactic.

The person who replaced Stockton was Reggie Williams. By the way, Louis also replaced Miller, who wanted to stick to the game. He has been targeted by the Trail Blazers from the beginning until now, and now he injured his ankle.

To be on the safe side, let the team doctor take a look first.

Bob Costas was shocked when he saw the Knicks' substitution list: "Doug Christie? Coach Lu? What are you doing, coach Lu? At this time, you have to replace someone who hasn't played a second in the past six games."

A newbie?"

The tragedy maker chose to help Louis smooth things over: "Coach Lu often does amazing things, I'm not surprised."

"I don't think this rookie can bring help. The reason is very simple. If he could bring help, Coach Lu would have let him play long ago." Laimbeer also didn't know Louis' intention to do this, "But I still believe that Coach Lu will not

He will be substituted for no reason."