The rest is just noise

After watching the game, Louis and Jennifer had something to eat nearby and then parted ways.

He did not go to say goodbye to Wilson because of the league's new rules and his special status, he was not allowed to approach college students with draft prospects.

Returning to New York from California, Louis' vacation is over.

On January 11, they faced the Portland Trail Blazers, who had already drawn a tie last time.

The Trail Blazers came to Madison Garden as if they were a different team, with Jordan scoring 50 points.

Seeing Jordan's 50 points, Louis remembered that the Flyer, who was supposed to miss most of the season due to a fracture in his second season, was still very healthy.

Moreover, he is in good shape and leads the scoring list with an average of 34 points per game.

The Knicks lost this game and started another winning streak.

One-third of the season has passed, and some of Ewing's problems are gradually showing signs of being cured.

Under Louis, he averaged only 30 minutes per game, averaging 19 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3.3 blocks per game.

The most important transformation Louis made to Ewing was to spend more than thirty games to make Ewing realize the importance of blocking and then develop the habit of blocking.

There is no need to worry about the technique of blocking, the intensity of blocking, or anything else. Developing habits is the key.

In mid-January, the All-Star voting results came out.

Ewing was named an All-Star, and Stockton narrowly lost to Jeff Malone.

On January 20, the Knicks played three games against the 76ers, and Ewing completed his revenge.

Louis took advantage of the home court and the referee's dislike of Malone to allow the defenders to get to the basket and cause the opponent to foul many times.

Ewing used his ability to get out of position and grab rebounds, which he had worked hard on for half a season, on the first frontcourt king in history.

He achieved a very rare and rare achievement that not many people know about, as Malone did not grab a single offensive rebound in the entire game.

Ewing had been practicing too hard recently and had no shooting touch that night. He actually posted Bill Russell-like statistics of 10 points, 22 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 blocks.

This made the New York Times so happy that it published a magnificent article "The Resurgence of a Great Tradition, Bill Russell in New York" the next day.

This game is a ranking battle between the Knicks and the 76ers.

If you win, you will be fourth in the Eastern Conference, if you lose, you will be fifth in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks won the game, so the 76ers dropped to fifth in the Eastern Conference.

At this time, the Knicks' record was 27 wins and 14 losses.

At the same time, good news came from the free market.

Louis, who has been paying close attention to the movements of each team, found that the Spurs were here to send warmth again.

In the 1985 draft, there were several players that Louis must win.

Among them are Ewing, Ball, A.C. Green and Tyrone Corbin.

Due to the trade with the Cavaliers, the Knicks acquired Oakley and added four big men through the first draft. Then they found that they did not have the right picks to draft Corbin, so they had no choice but to miss it.

Unexpectedly, Corbyn was frustrated at Spurs.

He has only played 16 games so far this season, averaging 4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of 40%.

This data really should be cut.

While Louis contacted Corbin's agent, he also asked Zhao Yuanzheng what he thought of the latter's performance with the Spurs.

Zhao Yuanzheng's views are consistent with Louis.

"San Antonio hopes to turn Taillon into an offensive swingman, but defense is his strength, and he can perform better on a team that focuses on defense."

Louis waived George Johnson some time ago, so the Knicks happened to have a vacant roster spot.

According to the rules, if a player is claimed in the next three days after he is laid off, the new team can inherit the player's original contract with the old team.

Because Corbin was unilaterally given up by the Spurs, the Knicks do not need to activate the compensation system.

The news broke that Louis signed Corbyn.

Before the next game, the media wanted to know why a player who didn't look like he was going to be used was signed.

Louis told them a story: "Mario Eli was also a player given up by San Antonio, but he is a reliable rotation player in our team. I believe the same story will happen to Tyrone."

After signing Corbin, the Knicks' roster will consist entirely of rookies and second-year players.

Ewing, Oakley, A.C, Antoine Kyle, Ball, Stockton, Webb, Dale Ellis, Gerald Wilkins, Campbell, Eli Stevens,

Corbyn.

Only one Ellis is in the third grade, and the others are all in the second and first grades.

Especially the first grade with the 85th grade has the largest number of students.

Ewing, Oakley, A.C., Ball, Weber, Wilkins, Eli, Stevens, Corbin, a total of nine.

At least half of these people are not in the Knicks' future plans.

Before the All-Star Weekend, the Knicks' record was ups and downs. Although Ewing showed a defensive performance at the defensive level, Ellis was accidentally injured, which had a chain effect.

Initially, Louis asked Eli to take Ellis's place.

It turned out that Elie's three-pointer was not good enough, and he was not used to the intensity of the game.

So Louis let Gerald Wilkins enter instead.

Suddenly, the Knicks have two selfish players.

Campbell and Wilkins, they are both the kind of brushes who like to take action on their own, do not play tactics, and only care about their own comfort regardless of the feelings of their teammates.

Campbell is better at brushing, and Wilkins has defensive attributes, so each has its own strengths.

However, the Knicks' current system does not require someone to defend the second position. What they need is someone who can shoot three-pointers to open up the space. In this way, no matter whether Ewing, Oakley or Campbell eat the cake, they will be very comfortable.

Without a shooter, the Knicks' offense began to suffer from constipation.

Louis did not expect that Ellis' absence would trigger such a big reaction. They had previously reached third place in the Eastern Conference, but fell to sixth place in the Eastern Conference before the All-Stars arrived.

Fortunately, the All-Star weekend arrives in time and Ellis will return after the holiday.

Louis rarely gets a day off. The advantage of coaching a team that is neither strong nor weak is that when games like the All-Star Game start that amuse everyone, he doesn't have to work overtime.

When he was in Boston, he had to go to the All-Star Weekend venue to help in various ways, but now he is much more free.

The All-Star Game was held in Dallas, and Louis, who stayed at home, heard about some of the team's news.

Like the 76ers, they continue to reduce expenses.

They sent away Leon Wood, a rare young man on the team.

Moreover, Sam Bowie still could not escape the disaster.

Bowie suffered a fracture and was declared out for the season.

The Trail Blazers were looking for reinforcements inside. Stu Inman once called Louis' office and wanted Manute Bol.

Of course it's not impossible to ask for Bol. When Louis asked for three first-round picks, Inman said "goodbye" and hung up the phone.

Whether Bol's future is in New York, Louis himself can't say for sure.

He is too "one-hit wonder". So far this season, he has not gained much weight, and it seems that he will never be able to complete the weight gain.

Well, even if he can't put on weight, he's still a very valuable functional player.

When Ewing reaches the weight limit and his rebounding ability is as good as Oakley, maybe the Knicks can put together Ewing + Bol, which will turn their inside line into the most suffocating no-fly zone in history.

You know, if Bol's average playing time per game is converted to 36 minutes, his average number of blocks per game can reach 5 times.

Although the conversion is meaningless, because the efficiency will decrease with more time, Bol did indeed average 5 blocks per game in a single season in Louis' previous life.

As long as the NBA doesn't defend for three seconds, a rim-protecting monster like him will have room to survive.

Therefore, Louis does not plan to hand over Bol until the Knicks have a clear path forward.

On the day of the All-Star Game, Louis took his children and came to the Blue Palace with Lorraine.

Louis stopped by to pick up some documents and didn't expect to meet Alex Stevens and Tyrone Corbin.

In addition to the two of them, Tomjanovich was also present.

"What are you doing?" Louis asked doubtfully.

Tomjanovich laughed and said: "They asked me to help improve the lateral movement pace. I had nothing to do, so I came here."

"Practice hard. Excellent defense will allow you to take root in the league." Louis encouraged.

"Yes, coach."

Lorraine nodded to them, Louis pushed the stroller, and Lu Wuxia looked around confusedly.

"Is that Coach Lu's wife? Oh my god, she's so beautiful!" Stevens exclaimed.

"They're not married yet." Tomjanovich didn't know how to explain, "But it's almost the same."

Louis came to the office and took out the file, which was about the filing for the first game after the All-Star weekend.

Their opponent will be the Los Angeles Lakers. It will be their first match this season, so they must be well prepared.

"You promised me not to work today." Lorraine said.

"Of course, there will be no office today." Louis brought the information with him, "Let's go watch a movie!"

"Take Michael to the movies? Isn't that good?"

"you mean?"

"Let's go to the opera."

While watching a movie, if Lu Wuxia suddenly bursts into tears, it would be an accident.

What if Lu Wuxia also bursts into tears while watching an opera? That would not only be an accident, but would also arouse the contempt of various high-quality people at the scene.

Therefore, after calculating various risks, Louis and Lorraine decided to go home and watch a movie in their home theater.