The rest is just noise

hymn of a tough guy

In the 2006-2007 season, the Celtics ended the regular season with the league's first record of 68 wins and 14 losses.

However, such results can only be regarded as unsatisfactory for Louis.

reason?

The "Los Angeles Daily News" recalled the Lakers in the Lui era this way: "Under Boss Lu, if the Lakers do not achieve 70 wins, it will be an unqualified season."

Is 70 wins standard for Louis? It’s not that exaggerated.

"Sports Illustrated" wrote in a special article on Louis: "68 wins is an insignificant achievement for Louis, even if this achievement is enough to win the Celtics the first place in the league."

Because, Louis has won at least 69 games in every regular season on average during his career.

68 wins is really below average for Louis.

However, what is really surprising about the Celtics is that they lost Dwyane Wade, Brandon Roy, Alan Houston, Tony Allen for the season, and Yao Yue and a half in the last 26 games.

68 wins while missing due to injury.

From this point of view, Lu Wuxia, who has played 75 games this season and averaged 23.4 points, 12.2 assists, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks per game, is enough to lock in the regular season MVP trophy.

In addition to being amazed by the Celtics' combat effectiveness, people can't help but look forward to their performance next season.

They played like this despite being short of major generals. If all players are healthy, they may have a chance to challenge the best record in history created by the 1999 Lakers.

Regarding the expectations of the outside world, Louis just said: "Our goal is to play well in the current game, and we will talk about the future in the future."

In the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics met the Bulls.

In the past few years, the Bulls have always been among the inferior horses in the Eastern Conference playoff teams. The team's top star is Paul Pierce, supplemented by Kenyon Martin, Caron Butler, TJ Ford and others.

A tough nut to chew.

Before the start of the first round, Pierce said arrogantly that the regular season record was not important and that the playoffs were a stage for tough guys.

It has to be said that Wade and others are out for the season, leaving Louis with a lot less options for matchups.

The Celtics lack reassuring defensive players on the outside.

It was pretty good against Pierce, but it would be much worse if we faced the Heat or the Lakers/Suns in the Finals.

The Bulls' style of play is very simple.

On the offensive end, we set up our formation and let our aces play hard. On the defensive end, we play man-to-man to death. The main focus is whoever has the touch will shoot more. On the defensive end, we go all out to create opportunities for defensive counterattacks.

This reckless style of play that reflects youthful vitality is common among the Young Guards. If an old team with an average age encounters it, it will inevitably cause a headache.

However, although the Celtics play like an old team, their average age is even younger than the Bulls.

The Celtics, who were neither lacking in energy nor chaotic, easily held the Bulls and won the first game.

Lu Wuxia had a huge triple-double of 25+15+10, and left a provocative quote after the game, "Where are the tough guys?"

Pierce was speechless on the surface, but in the second game of the first round, he showed the ability of a reckless star.

No matter what kind of competitive sports, there are some players who are good but not famous.

When these people usually play games, they look completely different from those famous superstars, but when the two sides meet on a narrow road, they can burst out with energy that is no less than that of the superstars.

In the second game of the first round, Pierce performed the best offensive performance of the game with his skills that made Louis feel sick to the sidelines.

But Pierce lacked helpers. Even if he scored 38 points alone, he still couldn't bring the Bulls a victory.

Lu Wuxia felt bad tonight, so he took fewer shots and passed more. As a result, he gave out 18 more assists than in the first game.

Yao Yueban, who came off the bench, regained his game form, relying on cakes and low-post singles to destroy the Bulls' inside line.

It is the strength of the inside that makes Lu Wuxia not need to make more attempts when his shooting feel is not good, just keep dealing cards.

After the game, Lu Wuxia seemed to want to stimulate Pierce, and continued: "I see tough guys, but they are not tough enough."

Louis didn't interfere too much with Wu Xia's post-match finishing touches.

He also wanted to see if Pierce could jump higher.

In his previous life, Louis didn't have a good impression of Pierce - of course, he didn't have a bad opinion - the only reason he didn't have a favorable impression of him was that he didn't look good when playing.

Unexpectedly, now I find Pierce's snake oil offense that hardly relies on the body very pleasing to the eye.

At first glance, he seemed ordinary, but after years of tempering, he became more and more interesting the more he looked at him. He was simply the NBA version of Yu Shinoda.

As a result, Pierce failed to be tough to the end.

Lu Wuxia didn't want to see Pierce's performance get better than the last, because he was the one facing Pierce.

In order to limit Pierce, Lu Wuxia specially studied his game and data.

Pierce's bad habits, his below-average shooting area, and his relatively underused offensive game.

These issues may seem insignificant, but in fact the key to successful defense lies in those little details.

In the third game of the first round, Pierce played extremely uncomfortable. Although he shot 30 shots, he only hit 9. Even if he scored 25 points, it was almost a negative effect.

Lu Wuxia continued to comment on Pierce: "There were only 7 free throws in 30 shots. A real tough guy would not perform like this."

Pierce was really annoyed by Lu Wuxia's few flirty words.

In the fourth game of the first round, Pierce's desire to attack was even greater than before, especially after learning from the lack of free throws in the third game, he launched more attacks inside.

What Pierce didn't know was that by doing so, he fell into Flawless's trap.

If he insists on shooting a lot of jump shots outside the paint, the Celtics have no better way to restrict him than using defense to let him take shots outside the hot zone.

But if he wants to dribble and attack the basket, Yao Yueban and Gasol's protection of the basket is no joke.

Gasol's rim protection can be put aside. Although Yao Yueban's average number of blocks per game is not worthy of his league-leading height, his rim-protecting power combined with his height is the league's top level.

.

This is one of the bewildering aspects of shot-blocking data.

More blocks does not mean that a player's ability to protect the basket is better.

Blocking shots is only the result of defense. What can truly reflect the effect of protecting the rim is the frequency of protecting the rim and the impact on the opponent's shooting percentage in the paint when players are on the court.

In both cases, Yao Yueban ranks first in the league.

Moreover, if you think that Yao Yueban is good at protecting the basket just because he is too tall, you are completely wrong.

Someone is really rushing to send it in, and Yao Yueban's shot-blocking ability is also among the best in the league.

Tonight, Pierce attacked the basket 11 times, was blocked 4 times, interfered 5 times, and only scored 2 times.

This ultra-inefficient basket rush has brought more serious consequences.

The rebounds originally generated by shooting and hitting the iron may become mid-to-long distance rebounds, which are difficult to control.

The rebounds caused by being blocked or interfered with when rushing to the basket are basically within the protection range of the Celtics.

Pierce's heroic but mediocre rim-rushing performance indirectly sounded the death knell for the Bulls.

Before halftime was over, the Celtics' lead expanded to 25 points.

Lu Wuxia deliberately dribbled the ball to kill the Bulls basket, and made several big and small breakthroughs for 2+1 layups, which made the Chicago people at the scene angry.

Pierce became even more anxious and shouted on the spot: "We have to be tougher!"

"Is it like you to rush to the basket tirelessly and get blocked?" Lu Wuxia nodded in approval, "It's really tough. If you can persist, maybe I can get double figures in assists before halftime."

Faced with a gap of nearly 30 points, any tough-talking behavior will make oneself look like a clown.

Pierce gave up struggling and stopped attacking the basket, but the Celtics' condition and feel had soared during smooth counterattacks.

In the second half, although the Bulls players led by Pierce did not attack the Celtics penalty area, the one-sided momentum was irreversible.

The Celtics scored 74 points at halftime, 139-85 overall, beating the Bulls by 54 points, advancing to the semifinals with a 4-0 score.

After the game, Louis said a lot of polite words about the Bulls' future.

The media all lamented that Coach Lu is becoming more and more like a senior. When he was young, he would not give up until he stepped on his opponent after a big victory.

Just when everyone thought the story between the Celtics and Bulls was over, Lu Wuxia always had to send a message to Pierce after the last few games, and tonight was no exception.

"I have never believed that Paul Pierce is a tough guy. In fact, until tonight, I regarded him as a mediocre player who is strong on the outside but hard on the inside. However, after tonight's game, I changed my view. I believe that he will never be

There is a second player who can fight as hard as Paul even when trailing by 50 points. There is no doubt that he is the toughest player I have ever seen. Chicago musicians should write a tough guy song for him.

hymn!"