The rest is just noise

A big problem for the Trail Blazers right now is how to balance the ball rights of Jordan, Drexler, and Terry Porter.

Adelman has tried to let Jordan play point guard since last season. However, Drexler, who has lost the ball, does not have a fearsome shooting threat. His role is better than the Warriors Green but limited.

Letting Jordan play the one position can bring out all his abilities, but at the cost of Drexler becoming a role player.

As the two most important players for the Trail Blazers in their bid for the championship, they can't afford the price for whoever plays a role.

Therefore, Jordan himself began to change. Even when playing point guard, he paid great attention to Drexler's position.

Louis' approach to this was very simple.

No matter how the Trail Blazers play, they always have three goals. The Knicks' defensive strategy is to apply pressure all over the court.

Put pressure on Jordan and put pressure on Drexler.

Because after Porter goes off, the Blazers only have two people who can hold the ball.

Except for Jordan, no matter which Trail Blazers player gets the ball, he will immediately be double-teamed.

There are two reasons why Louis dared to arrange this. The Knicks have two players with unlimited range of activities on the court.

Rodman and McHale.

Needless to say, the former's defensive switching ability is the predecessor of Dream Chaser Green, but he has epic improvements in rebounding. Compared with the peak Green, his shooting is considered a bankrupt version, and his support is also weakened. However, this is different from what he has never had before.

It has something to do with the team letting Rodman deal from the top of the key like Green did.

Essentially, they are the same player.

McHale, his size combined with his style of play is already very weird, and what is even more weird is his agility. In his previous life, Louis, who didn't know much about old-era basketball, wondered why the Celtics' Big Three in the frontcourt could succeed.

Wouldn't Bird's speed be targeted? The answer is yes, but the Celtics found a way.

Let Bird guard the 4th position and McHale guard the 3rd position.

As mentioned above, McHale's defense is not just about guarding the third position. To be precise, he is flexible enough to defend against various styles of third positions. The only three position that can defeat him is the power of the third position.

A flying beast with speed and overwhelming physical fitness.

The Knicks defensive system constructed by Louis is full of traps and emphasizes the defensive intensity of oppression and suffocation.

Internally, this defensive system was nicknamed "Ian'tbreathe" by Louis.

Now facing the best individual offense in the league, the Knicks' field lineup is not the best defensive lineup.

In the first round, Wilson led the entire court to defend Jordan, while Rodman and McHale performed their duties. On the Trail Blazers' side, Jordan dribbled over, allowing Drexler to take the ball and find a circle of open teammates.

, couldn't be found, and the forced shot was interfered by Rodman.

McHale grabbed a defensive rebound, and Wilson counterattacked and directly chased and hit the Blazers' bench gangster Jerome Causey.

29 to 28

The Trail Blazers completed the lead.

Memorial Stadium announcer Bill Shenelli said helplessly: "As usual, Little Lou always has one move better than his opponent. The Knicks have sent out 10 players in the rotation tonight, while Portland only has seven players in the rotation.

"

In the next round, Drexler charged forward with the ball and was interfered with again.

His layup touch was really poor tonight, and there were almost no successful shots.

Fortunately, Jordan grabbed the offensive rebound, deceived Wilson with a shoulder shake, turned over and shot a jumper, and regained the lead.

30 to 29

With McHale on the court, Hornacek naturally played 2 High, allowing McHale to get the best singles opportunity.

Facing Nance with his back, McHale used his signature up and down steps to score easily.

31 to 30

Jordan decided to play a pick-and-roll. However, the Knicks' defensive strategy was implemented in place. The biggest difference in understanding between Jordan and Louis under Adelman was that they learned to use the pick-and-roll early to break the opponent's defense. However, Jordan developed an amazing skill.

Before the feared three-point shot, his pick-and-roll could not unleash the full power of the pick-and-roll system.

Wilson immediately gave up guarding Jordan, and Rodman switched to guard.

Don't double attack, don't charge forward, keep distance.

The Knicks players executed Louie's setup perfectly.

Almost every step is hinting to Jordan, don't ever think about unblocking your joints and having fun with your teammates. If you have the ability, just beat me to death in singles. Don't you see the Chicago fat guy slashing 50+20 and ruthlessly defeating me in the Big Apple?

?

Rodman's size, combined with speed, energy, explosive power and ability to continuously take off, made him a natural defensive expert.

It's just that now he is extremely lacking in self-confidence.

When defending, you don't even dare to look into the opponent's eyes, let alone a murderer like Jordan who wants to kill with his eyes every night.

Jordan dribbles the ball and takes a sudden step forward, which is definitely the fastest in the league.

Louis used to think that Benj was similar to him, but now he sees that there is a difference in quality.

Because Jordan rarely explodes at full speed, the one just now has exceeded Benj's limit explosion, and this, Louis is not sure whether it is Jordan's fastest start.

Rodman lost his defensive position first, but fortunately McHale was able to take over.

Coupled with Oakley's rough attack, Jordan suddenly had the opportunity to pass the ball to his teammates. Just as he was about to pass the ball, Oakley's brutal defense knocked him down from the air.

In an instant, Jordan's second bodyguard, James Edwards, quit and was about to start a fight.

McHale's advantage of long arms was reflected in that he separated the two sides without interfering with any positions.

Jordan waited on the ground for more than ten seconds before standing up. He was fine.

Fans at Memorial Stadium thought about what happened when the Knicks came last year.

She Nili asked in a weird way: "Is this a New Yorker who has relapsed?"

Jordan, who was hit hard, stood on the free throw line without saying a word and scored two goals in a row.

This actually made Louis on the sidelines feel anxious.

"That's not good," Tomjanovich said.

"You also think it's not good to anger MJ like this?" Louis asked.

Tomjanovich shook his head and said: "No, I mean, it's not good to kill him without one breath."

What's even worse is that this will bring out the most pervasive presence on the basketball court in Louis' memory: an angry Jordan.

James is rarely angry, Duncan is almost never angry, O'Neal will be cut off because of free throws, so he is often angry but Kobe is angry every day, but his playing is unreasonable. He is angry with his opponents and also angry with himself. His shooting choices that cause brain hemorrhage lead to collapse of the ball.

When the team was playing, they would probably drive their own fans crazy. There were so many great superstars. Only Jordan, when angry, would play with a bloodthirsty rage like Hannibal.

The Knicks' positional warfare is very stable. With McHale here, every time they play 2 High, the success rate is over 70%.

Once again, 2High and P created a low-post opportunity. Edwards, who was out of position to guard, could not prevent McHale's terrible low-post attack.

33 to 32

In recent rounds, the Knicks and Trail Blazers have taken the lead every time they score.

Things are a little different next.

When Louis saw Jordan dribbling in the backcourt, he gave Drexler a "Get out of my way" gesture.

When Jordan saw Wilson, he thrust out his right hand so fast that Louis was sure it was Jordan's ultimate speed.

Even Wilson couldn't react.

By the time he realized that his defense had been blown away, Jordan had already taken away his defensive position and pulled out one meter inside the three-point line.

34 to 33

The Knicks scored three times and wanted McHale to go to the low post.

The Blazers' defense finally had some intelligence, and the interior staff blocked the route, preventing McHale from getting into position smoothly.

The ball was moving on the outside, trying to play another tactic, but was forced to make a mistake by the weak-side pressure from Jordan and Drexler.

Jordan then rushed forward at full speed.

36 to 33

Rodman made wonderful cuts inside, but they forgot that their opponents also had amazing athletic talent.

Nance returned to defense quickly, but Rodman suffered a loss in experience and was blocked when attacking the basket.

McHale grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the second attack.

Louis signaled for the entire court to press hard, even if he committed a foul, he would disrupt Jordan's rhythm.

If we look at the process backwards based on the results, this can be regarded as a mistake by Louis, which kind of added fuel to the fire.

The Knicks applied pressure throughout the court. Rodman, McHale and Oakley, three frontcourt players of good size were enough to bring suffocating defensive intensity.

This is the essence of "suffocation defense".

The Trail Blazers let Drexler hold the ball, and he was forced to stop the ball and risk passing the ball.

Jordan jumped up in the midfield position and caught the ball with one hand. Wilson was on top, and Rodman caught up to attack. However, it was an open area, and the two men obviously couldn't control Jordan's advancement.

Jordan's touch with the ball was breathtaking. He passed Wilson, dribbled behind his back to deceive Rodman's center of gravity, stopped and pulled up, and made a drifting jumper at a 45-degree angle from the right side.

38 to 35

"The Knicks can be as defensive as they want because that's what Michael likes most because he always plays in crowds!"

Nili She excitedly supported Jordan.

Louis used hand signals to tell the players to stop the full-court press.

Against the Lakers, they can press hard. Although it is dangerous for Magic to get the ball, he is too tall. The taller the ball holder is, the more likely it is to have problems when encountering a fierce full-court press. Even if he encounters trouble, Nick

Si can also foul.

Moreover, apart from Magic, the Lakers do not have a second reliable ball handler.

Against the Celtics, the Knicks tried a full-court press for an entire quarter.

When they pass the ball to Thomas, they will defend it if they can, and if they can't, they will foul violently.

However, against the Trail Blazers, if you want to press the entire court, you need to go through research and targeting. What I did just now was considered to be a test of the waters. I decided that it would not work, so I stopped it.