The rest is just noise

On May 16, 1988, the league announced the winners of all awards except MVP.

This is a highly competitive season. Although Ewing averaged 19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 4.1 blocks per game, he still missed the best defensive team.

Moreover, there was one thing that made Louis angry.

Jordan won this year's Defensive Player of the Year. He has the qualifications, but he is not better than Ewing.

If Ewing, who leads the league in blocked shots and ranks first in all defensive statistics, cannot make the All-Defensive Team or be the Defensive Player of the Year, how good will the others be?

Ewing was once again selected for the second defense, and the two players preventing him from entering the first defense were Sampson and Olajuwon.

Even if Ewing is selected for the second defense, McHale, whose defense is generally considered inferior to Ewing, actually enters the first defense as a small forward.

The other two defensive slots were taken by Jordan and Rockets wing Robert McCray (Rodney MCray SF/SG).

The All-NBA team is very lively, and the Knicks have three people selected to the second team together.

They are Stockton, who averages 13+14 assists per game, Wilson and Ewing, who average 26+7+6 assists per game.

For the Knicks, this is just an appetizer before the decisive battle.

They must first defeat their opponents in the semifinals.

That night, Game 4, the Knicks played the Pistons away from home again.

To the surprise of the Knicks, the Pistons, who were trailing 0-3, were not a death row prisoner desperately waiting for execution day.

Chuck Daly's roar and roar filled the Pistons' home court.

The enthusiasm of the Detroit people and the moderate bias of the referee's whistle created opportunities for the Pistons to win a battle of dignity.

This game may be the best defense of both sides in the semifinals, including the blown first half. In addition to scoring, the rebound ratio of the Knicks and Pistons was 31 to 30, and the number of turnovers was 7 to 9. Both sides

The offensive opportunities are basically equal.

The Knicks made no defensive mistakes in principle except for their poor defense against Parish's low attack in the opening game. The only thing they didn't expect was that Dumars and Ilo found the outside touch at the same time, and the Knicks' shooters, including Wilson, were

Inside, they are all too strong.

Tonight, in the first half, the Pistons' long-range shots were like a miracle, making 11 of 17 shots and a shooting rate of 64%.

The Knicks seemed to have lost their souls, and they were getting worse and worse as they played. They made 3 of 20 shots, with a shooting percentage of only 15%.

Perhaps this is the law of conservation of character. The Knicks have always been accurate, and the Pistons have always been accurate. Today, the situation is finally reversed.

When he returned to the midfield locker room, Louis didn't get angry.

The most difficult part of coaching on the basketball court is how to score goals when the team is cold.

This is beyond the head coach's control.

It is also one of the biggest topics in teaching this course: What should I do if my hands are cold?

Louis' experience is to warm up his hands first, so he asked Oakley in the second half and warned: "Find someone to fight, stir up the atmosphere, and be a little more agitated!"

So when Oakley deliberately threw his elbow at Parrish and responded with foul language when the other party complained, the conflict immediately broke out.

Oakley is worthy of being the number one hitter in the league. He beat the Chiefs to a pulp on the spot. Players from both sides also cursed at each other. If it weren't for the referee's power, there would have been a more heated development.

Chuck Daley felt something was wrong at that time, and he glanced at Louis.

Is that why he gave Oakley the second half?

The fight was so strange. It happened to be when the Knicks were in a downturn and weak, and the person fighting Oakley was the Pistons' best big man tonight.

As far as this game is concerned, Parish is the most important player for the Pistons. Oakley is just the Knicks' fourth-position substitute. He is also very important, but he is not on the same level as Parish.

Wilson or Ewing will put the Knicks into chaos, because these two players are the Knicks' players with the highest offensive real plus-minus and defensive real plus-minus respectively.

And Parish is the Pistons player with the highest offensive and defensive plus-minus in this game.

Oakley received a technical foul as a result, but it took away Parrish's hot state.

Louis replaced Oakley, and Oakley also yelled before leaving the field: "Stop thinking about going back to the home court to kill them! We are going to end the semifinals tonight!"

Trailing by double digits, their tactics were interrupted, and the referee blew the whistle. The Knicks now need their superstar to step up.

Wilson woke up.

He gradually took over the offense, Ewing's defensive actions also became larger, and Louis put full pressure on the referee.

Every foul that can be called or not called, once a foul is called on the Knicks, he will definitely become furious.

"Little Lu, don't act like a cousin and can't afford to lose!"

Leon "The Barber" Bradley, a huge Pistons fan sitting behind the team's bench, jeered loudly.

Louis ignored him and just kept putting pressure on the referee.

Will the referee dominate the game? Sometimes he will, but it is certain that when an unselfish referee makes a penalty error, he will deliberately look back and blow some controversial whistles that may or may not be blown to those who suffered a loss before.

Of course, everyone in the audience was in chaos.

After Louis put pressure on him, Ewing's rough defense was tolerated, and it was much easier for Wilson to cause damage.

This is the good condition created by Louis for Wilson.

Wilson took advantage of the opportunity and took over midway through the third quarter.

How far away is the 21-year-old Wilson from Louis' ultimate vision?

Durant without the ball, Tracy McGrady with the ball.

Without the ball, a skill that requires gradual accumulation of experience, he won't be able to reach Durant's height in the short term, but McGrady's ball handling is the closest thing he has to it at the moment.

The thing about him most like McGrady is his absolute strength and great talent. When the feeling comes, he can make pull-up jumpers without physical contact with the opponent and use his height and arm length to be almost impossible to defend. Even if James Worthy theoretically

He has both height, arms, length and speed, so he can't be disturbed.

In the third quarter, Wilson faced Worthy and threw 3 of these unreasonable kills, two 2-pointers and one 3-pointer.

In the fourth quarter, it was Worthy again. Wilson once again threw in 3 goals, one 2-pointer and two 3-pointers. Each of his goals was a knife inserted into the heart of the Detroit people. As long as the rhythm is correct, Wilson like this

The ability to forcefully chase points regardless of defensive arrangements is like Tracy McGrady at 35 seconds and 13 minutes. God makes him incontinent just looking at it.

Wilson, as the Knicks' ace, played his role and tied the double-digit point difference.

Louis trusts Wilson's ability, but does not indulge in it. If playing against the Pistons depends on the star's personal ability, what about playing against the Celtics?

The most despairing thing about Game 4 for Detroiters is that the Knicks showed their vast bench depth when their five-and-four-man offense was sluggish. Stockton couldn't pass good balls, and McHale's offense

When Ewing was left with defense, Hornacek, Ellis and Rodman performed amazingly, and Louis put pressure on the referee. After the fight with Oakley, Parish forgot what to do.

Playing basketball finally made people realize that compared to the Pistons, the Knicks are a team on another level.

To defeat the Pistons, they have many methods.

Louis' most exciting on-the-spot operation was to replace Ewing, who was incompetent in offense, and replace him with Song Tao. Since the start of the playoffs, Song Tao got a chance for the first time in the stalemate stage.

No, this is not a stalemate stage anymore, this is a critical moment.

The Pistons have height inside, especially Parish and Malone who are very effective in catching Ewing and McHale in the low post.

After Song Tao came on the field, he kept eating cakes. He did nothing else but eat cakes and protect the basket.

Chuck Daly looked powerless. Louis dared to replace Song Tao in the fourth quarter and increase the frequency of rushing to the basket because he believed that the Pistons could not defeat Song Tao through offense.

Because their pocket formation was tighter, it was not easy for Dumars and Ilo to shoot, and Rodman and Wilson's defense rotated too quickly.

Dumas made a long shot, but missed the half-shot. The virtue of the East being bright and the West not being bright is worth a gamble.

Moreover, when Hornacek and Song Tao entered the pick-and-roll, the Pistons' defensive habits must have delayed the high position like defending Stockton, so Song Tao also had the opportunity to pass down and dunk, his hands were numb.

To get 10 points in half a quarter is because I ate dumplings once.

The Knicks used Hornacek, Ellis, Wilson, Rodman, and Song Tao in a lineup with only one main force to complete a great reversal in the fourth quarter.

From the moment they took the lead, the Pistons never slowed down.

This is the game that the Pistons have the best chance of winning in theory, and it is also the game that makes them most desperate.

117 to 109

By 8 points, the Knicks swept the Pistons and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year.

"Finally" Tomjanovich sighed.

Louis stood up and straightened his clothes, "I don't know what to say to Chuck. He is my friend after all."

"You can say whatever you want, they played everything tonight." Tomjanovich believes that although the Knicks and Pistons won 4-0 in the semifinals, the process was far less than the overall score of the series.

It looks so easy.

"How much do you think we got?" Louis asked.

Tomjanovich doesn't have a combat effectiveness tester, so he really can't tell how much the Knicks did tonight.

"70%?" he said conservatively.

"If this is 70%, we may not be able to beat the Celtics." Louis glanced at Ewings who were celebrating with his teammates, "Those guys' offense tonight was so bad, we won with the substitutes

, which is probably 40%.”

"Isn't it too little? Doesn't it give Chuck some face?"

"The 50%?"

"You're too arrogant, Lu."

"Tsk, Rudy, you are underestimating yourself."

Louis said, walking towards Daley.

He shook Daly's cordial hand and said, "What a good game, Chuck."