The rest is just noise

In September, NBA teams start preseason training camps.

This year's Knicks are different from last year's.

The Knicks' roster was already full before the preseason training camp started last year. Therefore, they did not invite those fringe NBA players to participate in trial training. Instead, they determined the new season's roster from the beginning of the training camp.

This year, Ellis and Song Tao both missed the training camp for some reason, and it is certain that they will also miss the first month of the new season.

So the Knicks invited some fringe players to try out.

When the time comes, they will sign one or two players on short-term contracts to prepare for emergencies.

This kind of contract is not guaranteed for them.

But as long as you can play in the NBA, it's worth it for some people.

With the new season and new atmosphere, Louis saw that Ewing's body was getting stronger and stronger. He had strengthened the strength training of his lower limbs during the offseason, and the muscles in his thighs were obviously more developed than the last time he saw him.

Wilson has also gained a lot of weight. The young boy last season can now obviously hold up his clothes.

There are also their three new members, Michael Cooper, Reggie Miller, and Brad Rohaus, the last one. Louis even gave him a Chinese name with homophonic pronunciation, Luo Haos.

Although he doesn't understand it now, he will like it in the future.

"Before you start this new season, I want to say a few words." Louis looked at everyone and then said, "I know that the union is negotiating with the league, and there is a risk of the league shutting down in the future, but you don't need to worry too much, you don't have

When a person serves in the union, all he has to do is play seriously and do his own thing well. If there are any irreconcilable conflicts between the union and the league in the future, and you have to follow the union's instructions, please rest assured that on behalf of the team, I solemnly express my condolences to the union.

You promise that the union’s actions have nothing to do with you personally.”

This means that if the players union chooses to strike in the future in order to force the league to compromise, the Knicks' top brass will not blame the players who responded to the call.

What Louis said is not impossible to happen.

Just in recent days, the players union has announced that it is withdrawing from negotiations. They will take the league to court in the name of antitrust, demanding the cancellation of a series of league-related regulations that are not in compliance with the law, such as the salary cap.

The conflict between the two parties is so great that there seems to be no possibility of mediation.

Louis has experienced what happened in 1983, and he understands these people.

Now is the stage of lifting the roof.

After a while, some of them will be able to calm down and carefully consider the pros and cons, and then realize that it will not be beneficial to both parties to really lift the roof.

So the final result is nothing more than taking a step back and giving up some interests within an acceptable range in order to reach a new consensus.

The disputes between the players union and the league have always been nothing more than this.

Louis' words calmed the morale of the army, and the preseason training camp officially began.

Cooper, who had just arrived, was the only veteran in the Knicks with championship experience. He first wanted to confirm his position in the team, so he invited Wilson to have a bullfight with him.

Wilson knew that Cooper was selected to the first defense last season, so he readily accepted it.

In Louis' vision, Cooper's arrival would complete the Knicks' murderous pressing formation.

Cooper is an elite defender who doesn't stand out in terms of basic statistics.

The average number of steals per game is less than 1.6, and the average number of blocks per game is less than 1. How can such a person be selected to the All-Defensive Team for seven consecutive years?

The answer lies in the magician.

Many people don't know enough about Magic's poor defense.

They think Magic is just too tall to guard defenders shorter than him.

In fact, Magic's entire understanding of defense is problematic.

His defensive awareness is poor, his defensive skills are rusty, and his willingness to defend is average. In addition, as is often said, he is too tall to guard short defenders. These factors have led him to become an extreme defender.

He may be the worst one-on-one All-Star team in the NBA currently. Watching his one-on-one defense is as uncomfortable as listening to Canadian electric eels sing.

But you can't turn him into a defensive black hole like Kevin Love who is deeply hated by Emperor fans.

Because of his physical condition and the way Pat Riley trains, Magic has higher value when assisting in defense. Perhaps like Kevin Durant, he can be a player as long as he is willing.

Players who perform better defensively.

But who knows? His old rival Larry Bird was continuously selected for the second defense when his athletic ability was at its best, but Magic has never been related to the defense. The Lakers' SHOWTIME offense was so good that it completely covered up Magic's

Defensive issues.

This is what makes Michael Cooper great and why he has been selected to the defense for seven consecutive years.

Ideally for the Lakers, he would never become a starter.

But he didn't mind because he knew coach Pat Riley would call him on the game late in the first quarter or earlier if things didn't go his way.

If Magic's defense is blown, Riley will put him on the court. He is the team's defensive terminator, often targeting the opponent's best offensive player and wiping Magic's butt at the same time.

He's been everywhere but on the scoreboard. Aside from Magic Johnson, Cooper is the most quietly influential player on a Lakers game.

In his duel with Wilson, Louis saw his best side. He is not the kind of defender who poses a great threat to the basketball. His defensive style is very rare, and it mainly focuses on forcing you to do things you are not good at.

If you don't like shooting, he will induce you to shoot. If you don't like breakthrough, he will force you to breakthrough.

He's a master of psychology, but unfortunately Wilson is a two-way offensive machine.

When he meets this kind of player, his style will become rough.

His roughness also aroused Wilson's passion.

Wilson carefully chose his offensive line, stopped for a jumper, turned over from behind, faked a move and then made a breakthrough dunk.

In turn, Cooper's offense wasn't that good.

Although he can dribble and shoot better, and his shooting range can be extended beyond the three-point line. He is the Lakers' most reliable three-point shooter besides Magic, but he is not a stable attacker with the ball.

Such a player doesn't have much advantage in a one-on-one situation. All he wants to do is use his defense to torture the attacking team.

However, Wilson is also much better than last season.

11 to 3

Of the 3 points Cooper scored, 2 were due to Wilson deliberately giving up the ball, and 1 was due to Louis signaling to release the ball. So Wilson defended with a look, and acted so fake that he caught up with Zhang Yining and let Cooper rush to the basket for a dunk.

"That's awesome, Benj!" Cooper is good at everything except his voice...

How should I put it, his voice sounds a little like Stern, but also a little different.

Stern's voice sounds very soft and girly. But when he is angry, you will find that it is not girly at all.

Cooper's sissy voice has a unique charm. It is a strange feeling, just like the specially chosen tone of eunuchs in movies and TV shows. Louis has never seen a eunuch, and he doesn't know how real eunuchs speak.

He was glad that Cooper was an American and chose to play basketball.

Regardless, Louis is excited to have him join.

Next season, the Knicks' murderous tight end lineup will look like this: Cooper, Stevens, Rodman, Seley, Oakley, and Wilson and Ewing who can join it at any time.

Generally speaking, the initial idea of ​​a murder press is five people, as Pitino did in college.

Louis chose to expand it to seven players to ensure that someone could rotate, and increased the time for the murder press to be used for up to half a quarter in a game to 8-10 minutes.

Pitino is envious of the cards he's dealt.

Although the talent pool in college is shallower and the probability of using a full-court press to defend your opponent is higher, only in the NBA can you have the best full-court press in the world.

After one season, no one paid attention to Pitino's experiment in college, and the Knicks' murderous press has become well known.

"You're one of the best defenders I've ever seen," Wilson praised.

It was hard for Cooper to bear it. He was beaten up by a young boy when he first arrived.

After Cooper's bullfight, Louis called the three new members of the team, including him, to his office.

"Would you like something to drink? I have everything in this office." Louis smiled.

Cooper could see that the two rookies were nervous, and he was a veteran, so he took the lead to break the pleasantries: "Coach, if you have anything to say, just say it, we still have to train."

"Are you in such a hurry? Well, actually, I have nothing else to do with calling you here. I just want to tell you the positioning of the three of you in the team for the new season."

Cooper asked strangely: "Isn't this kind of thing decided until the end of training camp?"

Because they haven't had a training session yet, why should Louis arrange positioning?

"I already know your strength in general. Unless you advance to a higher level in the training camp, nothing will change."

Louis first said to Cooper: "Michael, you won't get more time here than in Los Angeles. But I will still use you defensively. I need you to be the leader of the full-court press lineup."

Cooper himself has no objection. His playing time in the Lakers has also been declining year by year. Now that he has come to the Knicks, it is even more unlikely that there are too many young people here.

"Coach, I know my position."

"Very good..." Louis glanced at the two young men beside him, "Michael, you go ahead. I want to talk to these two rookies alone."