The rest is just noise

The Knicks and Bucks' Ga4 ended in the former's dominant mode.

After replacing the full bench lineup, the Knicks' strength dropped a lot. The Bucks recovered a few points, but still lost by more than 20 points in the end.

Don Nelson cared about Moncrief, but he also knew that they were doomed.

"I should have been on guard a long time ago." Nelson devoted himself to the study of how to defeat the Celtics.

Completely unaware that the Knicks have grown into a behemoth.

Today, the Bucks were dismembered by the murder of the press. As the Milwaukeeans' season ends, it will also end the Nelson era of the Bucks.

"Now do you still feel that there is no way out for defense?" Louis asked.

Nelson did not answer immediately. He thought for a moment: "I have to watch your game against the Celtics before I can draw a conclusion."

This sounds a little depressing because the Bucks haven't been eliminated yet.

They need to play at least one more game.

But in Nelson's eyes, they seemed to have been eliminated.

What is ridiculous is that Nelson was not coaching Ga5, and the Bucks announced that Nelson would resign as head coach due to family reasons.

At the same time, Moncrief was out for the season due to his ACL.

In this day and age, an ACL means the end of a career.

Even if it is not terminated, the level of competition will drop significantly.

And Moncrief is no longer young. He has been troubled by injuries for several years, and this time it is like a big collection of injuries.

The Bucks claimed that after Nelson's dismissal, their current coaching progress is to identify candidates and have not yet contacted any candidates. This process will take several weeks.

Therefore, Del Harris, Nelson's chief assistant, will take over as coach.

Regarding his resignation, Nelson did not sugarcoat it like the Bucks executives. He claimed that he had a meeting with the team's top management to discuss the team's future. At the meeting, both parties believed that the team's current status quo was difficult to move forward and needed to be changed.

, and the best decision is to separate. At the same time, the sooner the team fires him, the sooner he can compete for the vacant head coaching position in the league.

This was undoubtedly a slap in the Buck's face, and Nelson didn't care anymore.

The Bucks did not respond further to the matter.

What is certain is that this team has fallen apart, and Harris inherited a Celtics team that is more complex, tired, weak, and bad than the Celtics that Louis inherited in 1983.

Unexpectedly, Nelson personally kicked Fitch out of class that year.

Today, Louis indirectly avenged Fitch and fired Nelson from get out of class. Moreover, assistant coaches took over the coaching. If Harris performs well, maybe the Bucks won't have to find a new coach and just let Harris continue. good.

Louis knows what Harris will accomplish in the future.

Before becoming an assistant coach under Nelson, he had been a bad coach with the Rockets for four years. What impressed Louis deeply was that in his previous life, when Harris was the coach of the Lakers, he allowed rookie Kobe Bryant to bury the Lakers with three consecutive non-touches in the playoffs.

season.

But what impressed him most about Harris was when he coached the national team in the early 21st century. It was the first time the national basketball team hired a foreign coach. According to estimates at the time, hiring a famous coach like Harris as a coach would cost at least 1.5 million in annual salary. According to the Basketball Association

Where is the money?

As a result, Harris, who was already in his sixties at the time, was sincerely willing to help Chinese basketball for free and reached a free coaching agreement with the Chinese Men's Basketball Association. The Basketball Association only had to pay for Harris's air tickets to and from China and the United States. In addition, the Basketball Association followed and

A total of only US$20,000 in bonuses and allowances was paid to Harris.

Under this circumstance, Harris repeatedly purchased various video editing equipment for the Chinese men's basketball team at his own expense.

For him, Louis has only respect. Although this happened more than ten years later, and I don’t know if Harris will still coach the national basketball team as Louis remembers, but no matter what, he is a basketball person worthy of respect.

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Therefore, Louis will prepare carefully for the Ga5 game.

The other group of semifinals in the Eastern Conference, the series between the Celtics and Pistons, was intense, but the result was dismal.

Although the Pistons' frontcourt lineup ensures an absolute advantage in rebounding in every game, they are missing a substantial superstar.

Adrian Dantley's shooting efficiency is unmatched in history, but he is too selfish.

Because John Salley was with the Knicks, he didn't even get the contrasting nickname of "mentor". Although his scoring average in the series was about the same as Bird's, he was unanimously criticized by Detroiters.

The Celtics didn't give the Pistons a chance. They won each of the four games by no more than 12 points, but they suppressed them throughout the entire process and didn't give them a chance. It was ruthless to send them out of the playoffs.

That night, Louis was alone in his hotel room in Milwaukee reviewing the semifinals between the Celtics and Pistons.

Bird is in excellent form, Thomas, Sampson, and Laimbeer are all in their best form. Harper was placed in the sixth man position due to poor offense, but his defense is what the Celtics need.

This is the most incredible thing. The Green Army, which has won three consecutive championships, is almost unstoppable.

As long as no injuries occur, four consecutive championships are certain.

Louis was replaying the game while fast forwarding, and he found that the value of the review of this game was pitifully low.

The Pistons' approach to the frontcourt was indeed effective, but at the critical moment, Dantley was obviously unreliable. Worthy was no match for Bird. It was strange to watch Dumars and Thomas duke it out, but they are not the same person.

level players.

Sampson faced Moses Malone, Parish, Rick Mahon, and James Worthy, averaging 28 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 5.4 blocks in four games.

Louis is no longer aggrieved by Ewing. Perhaps Sampson had reservations when the Celtics played against the Knicks in the regular season.

Louis doesn't feel that his defense is better than Ewing, but he averaged 16 rebounds and 7.4 blocks per game against the Pistons' frontcourt?

Mr. You, you still need to work hard.

Louis sighed, Ewing has made great progress, but Sampson is still making progress.

And he has become smarter and knows how to hold back and play in the regular season.

Well, in the regular season, the average of nearly 26+13+4+3 blocks per game was actually achieved by keeping the game in reserve.

No matter how optimistic Louis is, with the Knicks' current strength, it will be a satisfactory result if they can reach the sixth game with the Celtics who are in full condition.

Alas Louis scratched his hair.

Louis went to the bathroom and washed his face. Even if he couldn't beat him, he wouldn't lie flat. The Celtics thought that he couldn't get through it if he couldn't get rid of his skin.

The next day, the Knicks returned to New York.

At this time in New York, the media is building momentum for Kevin McHale's MVP.

There are also some tabloids that expect the Knicks to defeat the Celtics and take over the scepter.

After all, in the huge state of New York, there are seven of the four major sports league clubs in North America (Knicks, Jets, Giants, Yankees, Mets, Rangers, Islanders). Except for the Knicks and Jets, all the others are equally competitive.

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Let’s just say that from the 1980s to the present, the NHL has the Islanders’ four-consecutive championship dynasty, MLB has the Mets last year, and the NFL has the Giants this year who broke the curse of team history and won the Super Bowl.

The Knicks seemed to be revitalized. It would be better to hurry up than to rush. Why not win the championship together and make this city more glorious.

The vision is good, but Louis never mentions competing for the championship outside.

If they score 46 against the Celtics, he will challenge for the championship. If they score 55, he will boast. If they score 73, you can recall how arrogant he was when he led the Celtics in 1984.

All manifestations of vanity and arrogance must be supported by strength.

Now he still plays the fifth game of the semi-finals honestly and kills the Bucks first.

May 12

new york, madison square garden

Del Harris came to MSG with a declining team and delivered a powerful combo punch to the Knicks.

Harris surprisingly turned the tables and pressed the Knicks for the whole game.

At the beginning of the game, the Knicks were obviously stunned and were beaten 8-0.

After Louis called a timeout, the team regained its composure.

Replace Hornacek at the second position to increase the ball-holding point, and let Wilson take over in the midfield.

The Bucks' full-court press was normal, but they were fierce. They wanted to win for Moncrief and Nelson.

But it was easily resolved by the Knicks.

The Knicks used the points left by Moncrief's absence as a breakthrough point to strengthen their flank attack.

Wilson was unstoppable and had his best performance in the semifinals.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Louis once again sent a murderous press against the Bucks.

This time, the Bucks have adapted a little better than before, but without a second defender to carry the ball, they are still a Achilles' heel.

This time, Louis used personnel rotation to increase the time of the murderous press to 8 minutes. He committed 7 fouls and beat the Bucks to an astonishing 22-8.

The game fell into the Knicks' control from then on.

Harris tried to change the situation with a change of formation, but the Bucks had no energy and potential to pursue.

Moncrief's absence has a greater impact on them than imagined.

If Moncrief is here, Wilson cannot score 40 points in this game.

When the game reached the fourth quarter, Louis kept his promise and replaced Song Tao, setting the tone for the game.

118 to 102

Ga5, the Bucks lost by 16 points.

After 13 years, the Knicks return to the Eastern Conference Finals...