The rest is just noise

Chapter 216 February Belongs to Hu Kai (6/83)

In the second game between the Lakers and Celtics, at their home forum, fans are eager to see a revenge.

They hoped that the Lakers would hand the Celtics their sixth defeat, but the result was not as good as they thought.

At the beginning, Pat Riley's bold attempt did have some effects.

The Celtics chose to use their personal abilities to respond to the Lakers' attacks. Isiah Thomas's small-to-big game, Bird's big-to-small game, slow-to-fast and fast-to-slow and basketball IQ crushed Wilkins.

They are all key to the Celtics' rise.

Through these two games, the Lakers coaching staff made two points clear.

In terms of comprehensive offensive and defensive strength, the Celtics are undoubtedly number one in the league.

When it comes to defense, the Lakers can't compete, but when it comes to offense, the two sides can fight 50-50, and the Celtics can use their defensive advantages to strengthen their offense, so they can always win.

Three minutes before the end of the fourth quarter, the Celtics opened the point difference to 18 points. At this point, the overall situation was decided.

The Lakers are about to lose their second matchup with the Celtics.

Riley was still chewing gum and directed the whole game. Not only was there hair gel on his head, but there was also a lot of sweat. If the Lakers lost, this would make him look very embarrassed.

The Celtics flanked Magic and forced him to pass the ball to the open player, something Riley didn't expect.

Most opponents would be afraid of Magic linking up the offense, but the Celtics played an unconventional trick. They forced Magic to pass the ball and also tested Magic's mid-range and long-range shots.

As a result, although Sterling and Wilkins can score goals, the number of goals they score is within the range that the Celtics can accept.

If Celtic can accept it, it means their goals are not enough to invalidate the strategy.

It seems that starting from today, the team's basic training program for non-posters will include 500 long-range shots every day.

Thinking of this, Riley didn't feel any pressure. It was better that the problem was exposed at the end of February than at the end of May.

What we lose now is only the regular season, but then we will lose in the finals.

The Celtics also have their own problems. Their inside reserves are insufficient. Sampson + Bird + Laimbeer + Maxwell are indeed a historical luxury, but Bird and Maxwell are both swing forwards.

The only pure inside players are Sampson and Laimbeer. If someone encounters foul problems, their rotation will be very difficult.

Bird and Wilkins often had the upper hand in their matchups, but Riley also discovered that as long as Wilkins caught the ball in the right position, he and Bird could compete against each other.

Isiah Thomas, on the other hand, is fierce, dirty, extremely fast and has the ability to mobilize the whole team. His aggressiveness is suppressed by the Celtics, but when necessary, he can turn into an unstoppable sharp blade at any time.

This is the problem that Riley and the coaching staff will focus on solving next.

When the final whistle sounded, Louis turned around with a smile, walked to the midfield, shook hands with Riley first, and then waved to the celebrities sitting in the front row, especially Eddie Murphy, who shouted the most enthusiastically, and the unknown man

beautiful star.

"Don't be complacent, this is just a game!"

After the game was over, Murphy adjusted his mood and spoke harshly like a normal fan.

As for that beauty, she was too embarrassed to yell in front of Louis again, just like those who posted on the forum "I will eat shit if xx", but when xx is really xx, these people will instantly understand the trick of pretending to be dead and learn to use it now.

"Coach Lu, you played some new tricks today." Riley was not as contemptuous of Louis as other coaches.

He knew very well that Louis was capable.

However, Louis could not concentrate on listening to him at this time.

He looked at the beauty going away and asked: "Who is the lady next to Eddie Murphy?"

"Don't you know her?" Riley said unexpectedly, "Jennifer Beals, she was just an ordinary college student last year, and then she made a movie and became a hit!"

Louis was not that familiar with the entertainment industry, especially the European and American circles. He could only recognize those familiar faces, but he had no impression of this Jennifer at all.

"Thank you for telling me, goodbye."

Louis' behavior seemed to tell Riley that the only thing he wanted to know was the name of the female star.

"Coach Road" Riley didn't like how he always ignored his opponents.

Louis turned back: "Coach Riley, is there anything else?"

"Don't you have anything to say about the game?" Riley asked.

Louis didn't expect that Riley would discuss the game's problems with the opponent's coach after the game.

The reporter would ask this question 10 times tonight alone, and he never wanted to answer it for the 11th time with Riley.

"Spare me, Pat." Louis waved his hand and walked to the reporters at the scene.

Riley snorted and turned around with a smile. He also wanted to be interviewed.

He has a strong feeling in his heart that Louis will be one of his biggest opponents in his coaching career.

Just because he can make those Celtic monsters obey like well-trained police dogs is something that no ordinary person can do.

"Little Lu, congratulations on defeating the Lakers again."

"Thanks."

"What do you want to say about tonight's game?"

Sure enough, Louis suspected Riley of stealing the reporter's manuscript.

"As long as I win, I'll be happy."

He has become numb to this kind of question. Can the person who prepares the reporter's articles come up with something fresh?

"There were several scenes during the game where you 'interacted' with the audience in the front row. What happened at that time?"

After all, it was a question that Louis needed to use his brain to answer.

Louis replied with a smile: "There are always celebrities in the forum who come to watch the game. Their presence makes the game more interesting. I like to communicate with them."

The league did a lot of publicity for the Lakers-Celtics game.

But neither game reached the critical moment.

In terms of the intensity of the regular season, the Celtics seem to be a little too strong, and even the Lakers are a bit weaker.

At the press conference after the game, Louis saw many "old friends" from the media circle.

These people basically wrote bad things about Louis.

A reporter from the "Los Angeles Daily News" asked a pointed question: "Your roster is almost the same as last season, so why can it take off this season?"

Louis was unhappy with Fitch's cooperation in the later period, but he will not embarrass Fitch here.

No matter what, Fitch is one of his guides.

Louis wittily quoted the future Spurs locker room motto.

"When everything seemed to be in vain, I went to see a mason knocking on a stone. He knocked on it 100 times, and the stone still didn't move. But when he knocked on the 101st time, the stone cracked in two. But I knew that, let

It was not the last blow that cracked the stone, but the result of the previous hundred blows."

The reporters did not expect that Louis, who had always been frivolous and contemptuous of his opponents, would suddenly say such philosophical words.

He calmed down reporters at the scene.

As the most impressive locker room motto in NBA, it successfully helped Louis make the headlines the next day.

"Sports Illustrated" once again wrote a feature article on Louis that was widely circulated.

Moreover, the person who wrote it was a freelancer named Rogers Jacobs.

The title of this article is "Little Lu and his 101st Hammer".

Lakers fans were angry because they were relieved after the Celtics beat them.

The seemingly invincible Celtics lost to the Phoenix Suns, who were ranked in the middle of the Western Conference, two days later.

Their sixth defeat of the season came so suddenly.

After defeating the Lakers, their morale should have been boosted, but the result was like a deflated ball that was sunburned.

The February battle between the Celtics and Lakers is the theme of the NBA, but March does not belong to professional basketball.

Anyone who knows something about basketball knows that March belongs to NAA.

Before Magic and Bird even knew how to save the NBA, they had already saved the NAA and turned this event from a favorite into a fashion.

The mythical duel between Magic and Bird is difficult to replicate, but every year a large number of talented teenagers enter universities and they will write new stories.

Two years ago, a North Carolina rookie named Michael Jordan became famous instantly.

Several years have passed, and the quality of these players has been clearly seen by professional basketball scouts.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences, with an attitude of letting sportsmanship die, and losing games like crazy.

The Celtics' 53-6 record is also related to this. The bad team didn't resist at all, and they were flat and let you beat them.

Before the start of March Madness, another piece of news also attracted the attention of professional basketball circles.

In preparation for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the U.S. national basketball team decided to start training in March.

They will invite 48 to 64 top college players to compete in the Olympic Trials on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington.

The tryouts are open, so scouts, coaches, and general managers can all go and observe, and there will be a lot of warm-up matches.

As long as you have the will, no one can make you blind to their strengths or weaknesses.