The rest is just noise

At first, Louis had in mind only giving George Johnson and Alex Stevens a few games to prove themselves.

As a result, it took half a month to go back and forth.

Louis first put Johnson on the DNP list permanently until the end of the season, when his contract expired, and then called Stevens to his office.

Louis will inform Stevens that the Knicks will not exercise the remainder of his contract and he will become an unrestricted free agent.

In terms of playing style, Louis likes hard-working players like Stevens.

He was like a mad dog, biting people as soon as he came on the field. Even though the offensive and defensive details were a mess, Louis still gave him half a month, giving him about 10 minutes in each game.

But Stevens is not suitable for them. He averages only 3 points, 1 rebound and less than 1 assist per game, and his shooting percentage is less than 40%.

This is Zhou Qi-level NBA data.

Louis even suspected that if Zhou Qi was given the same opportunity, he could play better.

After Stevens came to the office, Louis said some polite words.

Then Stevens got nervous: "Coach, am I being traded again?"

"No, you don't have to worry about this." What you should worry about is whether anyone will want you in the future.

The regret on Louis' face flashed away.

"In the next few days, we will make a transaction, but you are not among them." Louis paused, "The transaction involves many players, but our roster is full, so we need to clear a position."

Stevens' heart sank.

He knows that on this team, apart from George Johnson, his position is the least secure.

"After several days of discussions between the management and coaching staff, we made a difficult decision."

It's not me, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me. Stevens already knew that he was the chosen one, otherwise Louis would not have let him come to the office for a one-on-one chat.

"We have decided to end your contract early, Alex." Louis said helplessly, "I like your drive on the court very much, but"

A fourth-round pick like Stevens has only a handful of opportunities to prove himself.

To be fair, Louis gave him enough opportunities.

Half a month, more than 10 minutes per game.

Louis valued his height, long arms, infinite energy, and fighting spirit to land the ball.

However, he is completely unable to reach the NBA level now.

Stevens could do a little bit of everything in college, including long-range shooting, breakthroughs, rebounds, passing, stealing the ball, blocking shots, defense... Therefore, a teammate with historical literacy called him the "Universal Spider", he could

Fill in each column of the data sheet.

"Coach, I understand the team's decision."

After that, Stevens walked out of Louis' office.

It's cruel to see one's dreams shattered, and Louis doesn't want to think about it.

He originally thought that the matter would end here.

But that night, when he returned home, he received a voicemail from Stevens.

"Coach, I will do whatever you ask me to do. No matter what you ask me to do, I will do it with all my strength. Fouls, fights, conflicts, swearing, defense, offense, rebounds, serving tea and water, being everyone's

Sandbag, whatever you need me to do, I will do it, I just want a chance."

If you are a Spurs fan, you will naturally think of Danny Green's text message that changed his destiny.

Louis is not an easily persuaded person.

He thought about it carefully and finally decided to keep Stevens.

Maybe Stevens will disappoint him, maybe Stevens is just a dreamer who talks the talk, but the Knicks' current bench is not crowded enough to accommodate him.

Louis chose to waive George Johnson and retain Stevens.

In this way, the Knicks have one spot left on the roster and an injury exception that can be used to sign someone.

Throughout December, the Knicks maintained a 50% winning rate and firmly occupied the top four positions in the Eastern Conference.

On the evening of December 30, 1985, at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Ewing played the best performance of his rookie season.

That night, his crazy performance stemmed from a lucky three-pointer.

Tactical kill, the ball stays in his hand, there is no time, just throw it and score.

Stockton found that he had a good touch, so he fed a few balls.

The more you feed him, the better he feels.

The Nets still had an undefended attitude towards him, so Ewing played tons of output.

With 45 points, 22 rebounds and 3 blocks, Ewing made headlines in major media with this performance.

The New York media boasted the most, as they "discovered" that Ewing's reputation was not in vain.

However, Ewing's attitude towards this matter was very indifferent.

The reporters originally planned to take advantage of this rare outbreak to build momentum for Ewing, to see if he could usurp Moses Malone's bird spot, become the Eastern Conference All-Star, and take charge of his own affairs.

As a result, the reporter asked Ewing: "This game must feel great, right?"

"Not at all, my opponent doesn't care about me at all," Ewing said angrily, "I'm offended."

He avoided all the correct answers in the interview and chose the one that made the media most uncomfortable.

Indifferent, cold, careless, disdainful of reviewing his wonderful performance.

You can train a dog to call you "250", but how do you make an unsociable person become gregarious?

Being unsociable and not being able to cater to the media is also a problem for Ewing. Is it because of his personality or is it a sequelae of four years at Georgetown University? Louis thinks this has nothing to do with John Thompson. Not to excuse him, there are many stars who came out of Georgetown University.

, apart from Ewing, Iverson was the only one who had a bad relationship with the media.

If the players who come out there have this kind of virtue, Thompson will never be able to get rid of the blame.

But if there are only a few isolated cases, it would not be appropriate for Thompson to take the blame.

When the time came to 1986, Louis did not expect that in the blink of an eye, it would have been almost 10 years since he entered the professional basketball circle.

The summer of 1978 seems like yesterday.

In the first game of the New Year, they faced the Knicks' old enemy, the Washington Bullets, and they lost in four quarters.

Lose one game first, then win three consecutive games to consolidate your ranking.

The Knicks have four days of offseason between January 7th and 11th.

Louie was invited by Jennifer Beals to watch a college game in Los Angeles.

Jennifer picked a match that Louis couldn't refuse during his vacation.

The matchup between ula and the University of Arizona.

The two schools are bitter rivals, and both teams have players who can't be missed.

ula's junior guard Reggie Miller is an All-American pitcher. Although his reputation is not as good as his sister who is as strong as an alien in women's basketball games, his own ability is also favored by the NBA and he will definitely become a player in the future.

A member of the alliance.

Miller is regarded by Louis as a player who can't miss it.

Besides Miller, the real reason why Louis and Jennifer had to come to the game was another player from ula.

Super freshman Benjamin Wilson.

When Wilson was a freshman, he played for ULA, a team with many strong players, and could play three positions. His personal performance repeatedly surpassed Miller's, but because of his too strong personality, he had conflicts with the coach.

"Coach Lu, Jennifer, I'm really happy to see you!"

Wilson came over to say hello.

"If you're happy, let's have a good fight," Louis said.

"It's necessary, please wait and see!"

Jennifer said excitedly: "At least get 40 points?"

"This is a college game, scoring is not that easy." Louis didn't want to put too much pressure on Wilson.

"As long as you want to see it, I will definitely get it!"

Wilson returned to his teammates full of motivation and kept talking. He must have been talking about how many points he wanted to score.

Jennifer rolled her eyes at Louis, "Look at Benj, and then at you. If it weren't for his sake, I think you wouldn't even come out to watch a game, right?"

"How could it be? I usually don't have that much time, but this time you just invited me during our break."

"So, you are free whenever you are not competing?"

"maybe"

"Why is it not certain?"

"Let's just watch the game first," Louis said sadly.

The University of Arizona is not only ULA's mortal enemy, but also one of the most competitive teams in the Pac-10 Conference.

In their formation, there were two acquaintances of Louis.

Core player Sean Elliott, a well-known Spurs legend.

Chief guard Steve Kerr, a name that is too familiar to be more familiar.