The rest is just noise

Whether the first game is a test or not will only be known in the second game.

"Whether our opponents have reservations or not, we will treat the series as 0-0."

Although Louis and Don Nelson are friends, the closer the friends are, the easier it is for them to run into each other on the court. This is the second time they have played against each other in the playoffs.

The last time was in 1983, Louis was not the official head coach, but a firefighter who was chasing ducks.

At that time, Louis led the Celtics, who were trailing 0-3, to recover two games before losing the third game.

Many people therefore said that if they gave Louis "one more life", the series would be overturned.

This kind of thing cannot be assumed. After that, Louis led the 84 Celtics to sweep the league, with 72 wins and 10 losses in the regular season and 15 wins and 2 losses in the playoffs. He led the team to win the championship and was elected as the best coach of the year.

Now that Louis is leading the Knicks in his second Coach of the Year award season, and meeting Nelson again, he naturally wants to defeat the Bucks beautifully.

In that game, he lost very badly.

Louie treats Game2 like a real game.

The result was just as he expected, the Bucks gave the game a lot of intensity from the start.

This is a difficult level for a newcomer to the Knicks.

During the regular season, the Knicks pride themselves on high-pressure defense, but in the playoffs, strong defensive teams like the Bucks will only bring about more ferocious defense.

Their touch doesn't help in this situation.

At this time, Kevin McHale's role came into play.

He scratched his armpit hair, raised his hand for the ball, and stepped back from the high post for a shot.

Hit a low jump hook.

McHale took over a total of four Knicks offenses and hit three goals, revitalizing the team's offense. Dell Ellis, who was ill for most of the regular season, used the skillful Exhange ky (high dynamic offense) tactics.

Ran out of the open space and hit a three-pointer.

The Knicks' performance forced Milwaukeeans to control their intensity.

With such intensity at the beginning, it is impossible to last until the end of the game.

McHale's performance solidified the Knicks' morale, and in the next three quarters, the young people returned to their best form.

Wilson, Ewing, Oakley, Stockton, and Hornacek all scored in double figures. Facing the Bucks' iron-clad defense, the Knicks scored 118 points at home.

They won two consecutive games in the semifinals and led 2-0.

"You're not going to get that many free throws in Milwaukee." Nelson was dissatisfied with tonight's officiating and warned Louis in advance.

Louis said modestly: "I know you are very good, but we are not a team that relies on free throws to win games."

"At least tonight, it was free throws that won you the game." Nelson said with certainty.

"No," Louis shook his head, "it wasn't free throws that won us the game, it was McHale."

Nelson took a step back: "Okay, 50/50."

Louis smiled and stopped talking, waiting for the Knicks to win at the Bucks' home court to see what else he had to say.

McHale was surrounded by numerous media after the game.

This year, he played at the top five level in the league. In this difficult hand-to-hand battle, he even scored 23 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.

The cornerstone of the team's stability is really not just talk.

Many young people have never seen a big scene. When they were about to collapse, he stood up to stabilize the morale of the army.

Many New York reporters are worried that the Knicks will be unfairly punished in Milwaukee, after all, such news often comes out there.

McHale said humorously: "It's okay, even if we lose all the away games, we can still win with home court advantage."

What he meant was that the Knicks have one more home court than the Bucks, but local reporters would definitely misinterpret his words.

McHale himself is indifferent.

Louis implicitly expressed his desire not to play a tiebreaker with the Bucks: "If possible, we should end the battle within six games."

"Why?" a foreign reporter asked, "Little Lu, do you think the Bucks are weak?"

"No, what I mean is that both the Knicks and the Bucks should end the semifinals within seven games."

Now no one understands.

What riddle is Louis telling?

"Because we and the Bucks are both very tough teams and consume a lot of energy during the game. We don't want to waste too much energy on each other, which will only allow our opponents in the conference finals to take advantage." These words were very comfortable, and Louis resolved them.

He avoided the embarrassment caused by McHale's big joke.

But he could not resolve Ewing's cold joke no matter what.

"We're going to let the Yankees in Milwaukee open their eyes and see how the Bucks died," Ewing said.

The public relations officer was shocked and hurriedly ended the Knicks' press conference.

In the corridor, Louis kept poking Ewing's waist with his hands. He was very ticklish.

"Don't do it!" Ewing kept yelling.

"Are you sick?" Louie said angrily. "Don't you know what Yankees mean in New York?"

Ewing explained forcefully: "That's why I added the prefix, 'Milwaukee Yankee'. Don't you understand the human language?"

"Stop this fart! Do you think people care about whether you add a prefix? Do you think any white player dares to say, 'We will let the N in New York open their eyes to see how the Knicks died'? Do you?

You don’t have any brains? How come you can’t even speak human words after studying in Georgetown for four years? If you can’t speak, just speak, do you understand?”

Louis was really angry with him now.

McHale joked: "It's okay. At worst, it will only cost hundreds of thousands in advertising and endorsement fees, and make thousands of New York fans hate it. With this loss, Patrick is still fine."

"Who says it's okay? I didn't mean to offend New Yorkers."

"Then what Yankees are you talking about with them?" Louis was going crazy. "Did you know that in New York, people would buy a painting with the word 'Yankees' painted with shit? You've sold jerseys all your life and you haven't sold any Yankee hats in a single quarter.

big!"

Ewing lowered his head with a guilty conscience, finally realizing that he had gotten into a big trouble.

"What can I do to make amends?"

"I apologize to everyone, especially the Yankees and the fans who support the Yankees," Louis emphasized, "Be sincere!"

Ewing's excessive jokes trapped him in a world where he was the only one sad.

After Louis scolded him, he didn't bother to pay attention to him. He returned to the locker room and asked everyone to go home and rest, and not to run around or talk nonsense outside.

"Before the playoffs are over, I don't want any of you to cause any trouble." He looked at Ellis seriously, especially him.

Ellis has reached an out-of-court settlement with the other party, and the settlement fee is $500,000.

Probably all his savings so far in his career.

This is an angry response.

Ellis didn't say anything, and everyone else answered yes.

"Did you hear that, Dale?" Louis asked.

Dell Curry didn't answer because Louis was looking at Ellis' position.

Ellis replied in a low voice: "I know."

This answer did not reassure Louis, but Louis could not limit what he did in his spare time.

Even if he wants to get himself drunk again and go racing on the road, Louis can't stop him.

Ellis is a very good player on the court and a perfect fit for the N.UCLA system, but Louis now has to think about the future.

The second position is such an important position. If Ellis cannot stabilize, Louis will have to find a way to find a replacement.

It's not that easy.

When healthy, Ellis averaged 3.2 three-pointers per game this season and hit 42% from the field.

He is a perfect off-ball secondary attacker who can create a lot of tactical space for the N.UCLA system.

How easy is it to find his replacement in the league?

Louis drove home.

Lorraine and her mother were already asleep, and Louis got himself some food.

As long as it's a game day, he won't go to bed early.

In the evening, he would go home around one o'clock in the morning, have a late-night snack, and study his opponents. If they lost the game, he would stay up all night to review the game.

In the two games at MSG, the Bucks have shown their style of play.

It means confrontation, pressure, and using the experience of veterans to educate the young Knicks.

This kind of game is very common. If the Knicks didn't have McHale, they might have succeeded tonight.

Back at home, they will only get worse.

One night passed

The next day, the league announced the winners of this season's major awards.

Among them, there was great controversy over the best defensive lineup.

Ewing, who was highly anticipated, was not selected for the first defense, but fell to the second defense.

This is exactly what New Yorkers were worried about before, that Ewing might be squeezed out by a defender who is obviously not as good as him because of his reputation.

The person who squeezed him out was the league's No. 1 center, Ralph Sampson.

For three consecutive years, Sampson was selected to the first team, first defense, and also won DPOY.

Looking at the statistics, Sampson averaged "only" 1.4 steals and 2.9 blocks per game this season, and his blocking data is not as good as Ewing's.

His team's defense isn't as good as the Knicks either.

Ewing averaged 2 steals and 4.2 blocks per game. The Knicks ranked first in the league in defense, second in the league in offensive and defensive rebounds, and ranked first in defensive efficiency. None of the data showed that Sampson was a better defender than Ewing.

One voter who asked not to be named said: "In a head-to-head matchup, Ralph beat Patrick. That's why I voted for Ralph."

Now, Louis knows why there will be such a spectacle as DPOY falling to the second defense in the future.

Why on earth should idiots be given the right to vote? This is a question.