The rest is just noise

In early December, the Knicks faced the Detroit Pistons, ranked second in the Eastern Conference.

The Pistons are known for their interior depth.

Anyone who can put up Parish, Moses Malone's twin towers, Dantley and James Worthy's double wings, and Rick Mahon sitting on the bench can have the best rebounding in the league.

data.

The Pistons' rebounding rate ranks first in the league, and they have a grade advantage over the second-placed Knicks.

The Knicks only lost three games in November, and their record is so impressive that people forget that this is an extremely young team.

The Pistons are another meat grinder-style defensive team. Wilson's touch was knocked away, Dale Ellis is still suspended, and the Knicks' N.UCLA system cannot exert its advantage without space.

It's hard for Louis to imagine that they would lose to a team that doesn't even have a serious point guard or shooting guard.

But if someone gets robbed of 60 rebounds in a game, including 15 offensive rebounds, it could happen.

In the first game in December, the Knicks got off to a bad start.

That night, Louis called Ewing to his side and yelled at him because his rebounding tonight was so poor.

"Why didn't you say anything about Malone's little tricks?" Ewing couldn't bear the criticism and asked.

"Where are your little tricks?" Louis asked, "Are the little tricks the old bastard's patent? Where did your little tricks go? Truk didn't teach you on weekdays or something?"

Ewing said angrily: "The referee will blow the whistle if I make a small move."

"Damn it, John Thompson didn't even teach you how to do little tricks in the paint." Louis said sadly, "I'm so tired. We obviously chose a 22-year-old No. 1 pick, why do I have to teach a child how to do it?"

Can I teach you how to use the toilet?"

Ewing was furious: "You didn't have to choose me back then!"

"You can't stand and talk without hurting your back!" Louis snorted, "If I choose you, I may one day be blocked by your rubbish rebounds, mindless defensive attacks, weird butter hands, and the home referee can't control it.

The number of fouls I received is so frustrating. If I hadn’t chosen you, I might have been shot by a fan that day.”

Ewing's eyes wandered: "I don't care about that."

"What can you care about? You are useless. It's the second year and your card position is still a mess. How can I believe that you will be as good as Ralph in the future?"

Louis was snorting and working hard when McHale came over.

"Excuse me, coach, you are quite tired. Do you want to go out and relax?" McHale asked.

"This is Detroit." Louis is allergic to Detroit.

The Chen Guoren case a few years ago frightened Asians across the United States. Although people went out to demonstrate and protest, and Louis also participated in it, it did not change Americans' stereotypes of Asians.

The crime occurred in Detroit.

Therefore, every time he comes to Detroit, Louis never goes out unless he can.

"No." Louis said to Ewing unhappily, "Go ahead and find a few more chicks to dance on you. You'd better have some physical reaction and stuff some checks into their underwear so that you can't be seen on the field.

Show your side."

Ewing blushed: "I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"

"Stop pretending to be innocent with me, don't I know why you go out every day?" Louis has only one request, "I don't care what you go out for, there are only two things: don't fight, don't make news, don't be like Ellis.

He behaves like a bitch."

"Those are three requirements, right?"

"roll!"

After losing to the Pistons, the Knicks faced several contenders for the No. 1 overall pick.

There are the San Antonio Spurs who are lying flat, the Los Angeles Clippers who have not had a good time in Louis' impression, and the Kings who are not accustomed to the acclimatization in Sacramento.

Before the Christmas game, the Knicks lost two more games.

A double overtime battle was avenged by the Lakers. At the last moment, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook extended the Lakers' lead to 4 points and sealed the victory.

The other game was much stranger. The one who defeated the Knicks was the Phoenix Suns.

In this game, the Suns had 50 free throws.

All Knicks insiders averaged more than 5 fouls.

After the game, a Phoenix reporter sheepishly asked Louis what he thought.

"Will I be fined if I curse the referee here?"

"Probably"

"If I scolded the referee here, would you embellish my foul language into a compliment to the referee just because the victory was in vain?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Then I have nothing more to say."

At this point, the Knicks have lost six games.

But the competitiveness is still very strong.

The only team that can threaten the Knicks' leading position is the Portland Trail Blazers in the West. At the same time, they are also one of the teams that want Manute Bol the most.

Louis has two major principles for trading Bol: not to a strong team that may cause him trouble, and not to a team that Bol doesn't want to go to.

The one who meets these two requirements and has the best chips has the best chance of getting Bol.

The Trail Blazers obviously don't meet the requirements, and they don't have good enough chips.

It is impossible for the Knicks to miss the Christmas Day game. The opponent arranged for them by the league is the Detroit Pistons, who they played against at the beginning of the month.

The last time they met was in Detroit, the referee obviously had double standards, but Louis would not blame the referee for the loss.

If you don't play well, the referee's double standard is just one link in the many chain effects that lead to losing.

This time, Dale Ellis is back, and Ewing is in hot form since losing to the Pistons.

Counting this month's data alone, he averaged 23 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 4.8 blocks and 2.1 steals per game.

The shot-grabbing data of 6.9 is already beyond Louis' understanding.

Whenever Louis asked why he suddenly seemed like a different person, McHale always smiled knowingly.

"It must be the Detroit Rose, he liberated Patrick's soul!" Rodman said garrulously.

Detroit Rose?

Louis remembered the name and asked a friend in Detroit to look it up.

As a result, as soon as the name was mentioned, the other party said: "Detroit Rose, a very hot and unrestrained call girl. I heard that Ewing from your team had an affair with her."

"This daring gorilla!"

However, if you think about it carefully, you are in this state after only being served once. If you were served a few more times, wouldn't Ewing be in trouble?

"Ahem, please help me ask Ms. Detroit Rose if she is interested in expanding her business to New York."

Louis just mentioned it in a joking manner.

It is impossible for him to help Ewing, this kind of thing is illegal.

It doesn't matter to Louis how Ewing messes up in private, as long as it doesn't affect the state of the game.

Tonight, against the Pistons, the Knicks were in a completely different state than they were in the Motor City game at the beginning of the month. Everyone had a ferocity that wanted to eat Detroiters alive.

Moreover, the role of Dale Ellis cannot be reflected in many data.

If he is not there, the Knicks' N.UCLA system will actually have only one Wilson left in the outside space. But he is still getting used to the NBA's three-point line, and he is thin and cannot withstand the chainsaw murderers of the Pistons.

The tossing.

Without Ellis, the opponent's defensive focus would all fall on Wilson, and it would naturally be difficult for him to perform.

With Ellis, the situation is completely different.

The Pistons are Dumars, Worthy, Dantley, Malone and Parish.

A terrible lineup of four big players and one small team. In this era when each team has only one or no shooter, the rebounding advantage is amplified. Worthy playing other second positions in the league is an astonishing mismatch.

However, the Knicks have two shooters, and their defense becomes a problem.

Missing defense is almost the norm, and the phenomenon of being unable to keep up with others happens every round.

If the Knicks can't hit a three-pointer, that's it.

But tonight, the Knicks seemed to be trying to make all the shots they missed in the game at the beginning of the month.

Wilson and Ellis both fought like crazy.

The two scored 74 points together, plus McHale's 24 points and Ewing's 16 points. The Knicks' combined scoring alone was as much as the Pistons'.

In the whole game, 134 to 114, the Knicks defeated the Pistons by 20 points, achieving perfect revenge on Christmas Eve.

Chuck Daly walked up to Louis worriedly and had only one sentence: "I hope I don't meet you too early in the playoffs."

"Me too." After all, the big guys like the Pistons were carefully prepared for the Celtics. If the Knicks blocked it for the Greens, the Bostonians would probably laugh and cry.

The reason why Daly doesn't want to touch the Knicks is very simple. Tonight's game proved that the Knicks' style of play is very restrained by the Pistons' four-big-one-one-small system.

Once they open three-point shots, the Pistons can't match up with anyone, and the pace is slow.

Ellis's activity on the court is reminiscent of his off-court activities.

The matter between him and the Cleveland people has not yet been resolved. The other party seems to be dissatisfied with the settlement and is determined to appeal.

If it turns into a lawsuit, Ellis has no chance of winning and he may go to jail for a short period of time.

This is what the Knicks don't want to see.

"Dell is a person who will ignite himself on the court, especially when he encounters those things off the court, he will perform better than usual." Louis told reporters.

Ellis barely high-fived anyone when he returned to the locker room.

He is more silent than before.

"I hope you can take care of those things," Louis said.

Ellis was silent for a while and said: "I will be absent from time to time. I have a lawsuit to fight."

"You should be very clear that if you go to court, you will definitely lose." Louis believes that the only way Ellis can avoid jail is to reach a settlement with the other party.

Ellis didn't answer, and he quickly disappeared from the locker room.

A weirdo, but a useful weirdo.

It's a pity that this weirdo is restless, he is as dangerous as a time bomb.

If Ellis can't get this thing done, all Louis can do is trade him. He can't have such a dangerous unstable factor in his lineup.

If he had not been forced to do so, Louis would not have done that, because it would be difficult to find another off-ball marksman who could integrate so well with the N.UCLA system.