The rest is just noise

Before the start of the 1985-86 preseason, a piece of news broke in college basketball.

Teammates of UCLA superstar Benjamin Wilson say he is considering following the example of Ralph Sampson and entering the NBA draft after his freshman season.

If he does, he will be the first player in UCLA history to do so.

As for the reason why he chose to do this, no one knows.

The New York Knicks ushered in the first preseason game of the Ewing era, and their opponent was the Seattle SuperSonics.

Both sides came to a point, and the Knicks narrowly won.

Even if the Knicks won, they still had a number of troubling issues during the game.

With a high turnover rate, Ewing's immediate combat ability is not at the level that fans imagined.

As a result, they really achieved a preseason winning rate of 50%.

Ewing averaged 26 minutes per game, scoring 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 fouls.

"Not a good sign."

The speculation of whether Ewing is overrated appeared in the mouths of the New York media for the first time.

The internal conflict within the team lies in the inability to adapt to Louis' new system.

Louis ignored these voices and insisted on fighting.

There are always doubters about change, and these doubters helped the team win the Ewing Award last season.

Their doubts are weak.

The reason why Louis chose the UCLA system is not only because they have Stockton on the team, but also because this system has many changes.

John Wooden is known as the greatest coach in North American history, not just because he coached two of the greatest centers in college basketball history.

The structure of college sports means that a school's competitiveness relies heavily on recruiting, and in an era when players generally play four years, the coaching staff can build an offensive system around their ace.

When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still called Alcindor, it was well known that he won three consecutive championships for UCLA. At that time, UCLA's offensive system centered on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's low-post offense to create offensive opportunities for his teammates. This was the earliest triangle offense.

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Later, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar graduated and entered the NBA, and Bill Walton entered UCLA.

Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are both centers, but have completely different technical characteristics. Walton does not have as good an offensive power at the basket as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but he is better at passing the ball and can play a better role in the high post. Wooden teaches students according to their aptitude and modified the

The team's system, with Walton at the free throw line as the core, keeps UCLA in an undefeated position.

Walton fell above the free throw line, and other players used mutual screens to cut and run back, making it even more difficult to guard against. After leaving Wooden, Coach Wooden's assistant coach Pete Carell relied on this concept of the center occupying a high position.

, carried forward at Princeton University, and eventually formed the Princeton offense.

When a system evolves into two completely different branches under the same coach, it is necessary to carefully speculate on its essence.

What's more, there is a third branch of the UCLA system.

Before Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, UCLA had already had two consecutive championships, and that team did not have a great center.

At that time, UCLA's aces were Gail Goodrich and Walt Hazzard (SG).

Both were guards. Coach Wooden immediately used fast-paced dynamic offense as the core of the system, achieving the league's highest offensive efficiency and indirectly driving the NBA's offensive revolution. The Boston Celtics absorbed UCLA's advanced concepts,

With Havlicek's running, the "Boston Fast Break" was played that was very popular for a while, which brought the NBA to an era where everyone plays fast break⑴.

If you take a slightly crooked stance, you can blindly regard the UCLA fast break as the pioneer of run and gun. If this is the case, the UCLA system is the ancestor of the three most famous tactical systems in the NBA.

This is why Louis wants to implement the UCLA system.

He is not trying to copy the tactics from 20 years ago, but he wants his tactical system to have the diversity of the UCLA system.

If Ewing suddenly becomes the core that can dominate offense and defense in the future, maybe he can use this guy as the peak Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

There is also another possibility. The Knicks will have stars coming in the future. If they don't adapt to the current pick-and-roll system, they can learn from their ancestor, UCLA. They have the same origin, so it is easy to change.

The dissatisfaction within the team was basically suppressed by Louis.

His attitude is very clear. If you don't know how to play tactics, just obey the instructions. If you don't obey the instructions and still complain, then I'm sorry, I will sit on the bench.

Everyone knows Louis' true temper through contact in the training camp.

Just spray Ewing's energy at him. If anyone else dares to oppose him, you will have their skin peeled off.

October 26, 1985

The New York Knicks' first game of the new season was against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The best era of the 76ers has passed. They are now a paper tiger that relies on starlight to attract fans but does not have championship competitiveness.

Malone and Dr. J are both famous figures, and they are also representatives of people who decline very quickly as they get older.

Andrew Toney, a 50-level talent, has been hit by an arrow in the knee, but the 76ers' team doctor didn't seem to realize the seriousness of the problem and allowed Toney to play the new season with the injury.

Not to mention they drafted Sam Bowie with the pick that should have drafted Barkley.

Moreover, Harold Katz, who was one of the richest owners in the NBA a few years ago, has encountered a financial crisis and is cutting back on expenditures. The NBA can no longer take care of it.

The 76ers are in trouble internally and externally.

Thinking of their predicament, Louis suddenly discovered that the 1987 first-round draft pick from Philadelphia in their hands suddenly became valuable.

Louis smiled. In the early years, the 76ers loved to send out strong substitutes and substitute future draft picks to win lottery tickets. Unexpectedly, one day they themselves would fall into the same predicament.

At the beginning, Malone won the ball first with his rapid speed.

Maurice Cheeks held the ball. Louis looked at the defender he almost brought to the Celtics and thought of some old things.

The Knicks featured Stockton, Ellis, Campbell, Oakley and Ewing.

In terms of positioning, it's all based on position.

Like during the Celtics era, there was no such thing as mismatching players based on their characteristics.

From the beginning, Cheeks used jump shots to educate Stockton.

2 to 0

"John, you are too polite, be on guard!" Louis shouted.

Stockton took possession of the ball past halftime, and he raised his hand and held out two fingers.

Ewing and Oakley widened their eyes at the same time.

They actually didn't see what that gesture meant at the first time.

Stockton could only shout: "high35!"

The number of a high-post tactic can be ranked as high as 35, which shows how much pressure there is to play inside in the Knicks.

Ewing and Oakley went up to the high post at the same time, and they took over the high post on the left side, setting up a pick-and-roll for Stockton at a 45-degree angle on the left side.

A beautiful step screen disintegrated the 76ers defense.

Stockton hit a jump shot from outside the paint.

Stockton doesn't like to talk trash. If he has a problem with his opponent, he can at most give him a "you just understand" look.

Cheeks undoubtedly understood the look in Stockton's eyes just now.

That look means: You are nothing special, so don’t be so arrogant.

At this time, Louis suddenly saw Ewing defending Malone in front of him as if his brain was short-circuited.

"Patrick, fuck you"

Dr. J lobs to Malone.

Malone raised his buttocks to push away Ewing, but he didn't expect the opponent to remove his stool and only hit the air. When he jumped up again, he already had a sign that something bad was going to happen.

Sure enough, behind him, Ewing roared like the shadow of death and slapped his ball out of bounds.

"Patrick gave Moses Malone an unforgettable big shot!" Marv Albert yelled, "Ewing's first impression on us at MSG was so profound!"

At this time, Ewing turned back and asked Louis: "What did you just say?"

"What, did I say something? It's a fan with a voice similar to mine who is making noise. Ignore him. Your block just now was great. I'm very optimistic about you!" Louis said and gave him a thumbs up.

, I just don’t know if anyone can take a screenshot of this picture and compare it with Uzumaki Naruto’s signature “My teeth are white, you are so awesome” thumbs up in the future to see who is more heartwarming.

Louis was prevaricating for Ewing, and he turned around and threatened the players behind him: "If anyone dares to tell Patrick about my 'mistake' just now, I will kill him, do you understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"No one is a fucking saint!" Louis explained clearly to himself, "Who can have no fucking faults!"

Boer was trembling: "Can 'fuck' still be used in this way?"

⑴If you pay attention to the history of the NBA, you will find that UCLA has led two trends. The fast break trend, and the Princeton offensive trend that uses supporting centers like Walton to build a system. The 1970s was the most prolific era of supporting interiors.