The rest is just noise

The Eastern Conference Finals will be played on the third day after the semifinals.

Since both the Knicks and Celtics ended their series with sweeps, they will meet soon.

Next game day is not far away for the Knicks.

Today is May 17th, and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals is May 19th.

Louis asked the players to arrive at the Blue Palace half an hour early. He wanted to hold a detailed review meeting for the opponents in the Eastern Conference finals.

In order to defeat the Celtics, Louis and his coaching staff put in a lot of effort.

They collected all the strengths and weaknesses of the Knicks' regular rotation of the front nine, the hot shooting areas and the cold shooting areas.

The Blue Palace's warehouse contains videos of all the Celtics' games so far this season. The Knicks' coaching staff reviewed those game videos every game and obtained all the data they needed.

"Although Larry Bird's shooting area is all red, the left corner is a point where he is relatively inaccurate. If we can't do anything about him, we will force him to shoot there."

"Isiah Thomas has increased his three-point shooting percentage to 30% since the start of the playoffs. We should not be afraid of his shooting because of this, but must decisively allow him to take long-range shots. In addition, the strong side of the free throw line,

It’s his least favorite shooting spot.”

"Ralph Sampson has no shortcomings. He must maintain confrontation at all times and consume his physical strength."

When I heard that Sampson had no shortcomings, there was a strange atmosphere in the room.

"What's wrong with you?" Louis asked.

McHale suppressed a smile and said: "Patrick said he was going to use defense to get Ralph."

Louis was overjoyed: "Really?"

Ewing said with a stiff face: "I was just kidding."

"Looking at your potential, is it difficult to defeat Ralph with defense? You are determined to set an example for the whole team!" Louis said with disgust.

Ewing rolled his eyes, wondering who said Sampson had no shortcomings.

Louis spent half an hour introducing the data prepared by the coaching staff, and distributed the materials, asking them to remember every key point in the materials.

Afterwards, Louis asked Tomjanovich and Zhao Yuanzheng to organize match training, while he went back to the office to watch the video.

This time, what he watched was no longer a movie tape, but a Celtics game.

He has watched enough Celtics games, but he still has some questions.

He wanted to know the extent of Bird's injury.

In his memory, Bird during this period should have been affected by back injuries. However, the butterfly effect caused by Louis caused changes in the Celtics' personnel structure. Sampson and Thomas performed well this season, and Bird therefore

30 games were taken off.

Therefore, the Celtics' first record in the league was achieved when Bird only played 50 games.

This is scary when you think about it.

The video of the game that Louis chose was Bird's best performance so far. In Game 1 of the semi-finals, he scored 30 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

6 rebounds and 4 assists?

Except for scoring, the other two statistics are not like Bird's.

Louis watched the game twice in fast forward in his office.

He noticed some details. In order to reduce the pressure on his back, Bird changed his running posture.

The reason for the lack of rebounds is not that he can't grab them, but that he consciously reduces his chances of getting stuck inside and avoids using his back as much as possible.

Isn't this obvious enough?

So far, in eight playoff games, Bird's average rebounds per game are only a pitiful 6.3, which is 1.5 less than his assists.

In the previous eight seasons, he only averaged double figures in rebounds per game in the playoffs in two seasons.

In 1981, he averaged an outrageous 14 rebounds per game.

In the Finals, his rebounds per game were only a few tenths less than peak Moses Malone.

The Celtics' opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, is not a strong rebounding team. There are various signs that Bird's back injury has not recovered yet.

Even so, he still poses a great threat in the game.

Bird now looks like Durant during the Warriors, a ruthless finishing machine.

However, compared to Durant, he lacks the latter's ability to take over the ball at critical moments, but he has more Jokic-like support than the latter. When he is not injured, he has an enhanced version of Nowitzki's style.

The ball-handling offense, Jokic's organization and support, the league's top five rebound protection, and the shooting ability that can make Pat Riley gamble his life.

In this timeline, Bird has become G.O.A.T.

Thanks to Louis, many things have changed.

Only one thing hasn't changed: Bird is still Louis' favorite player.

To Louis, Bird was more than just a great white hope with an arrogant attitude and poor qualities.

Little white boys today would rather grow up to be Michael Jordan or Dominique Wilkins because they are always flying and playing ball. When kids imitate Larry Bird, most of what they do

They are all boring, just the most basic things on the basketball court.

Even if Larry Bird's last name requires a cool nickname (Larry Legend), Larry Bird is still just "Larry." He is just the essence of all basketball concepts. He is smarter and better than all players.

Focus, better shooting touch, better skills...but there is certainly nothing as extraordinary athletic talent as Jordan and Wilkins.

Louis has been watching this video, watching it at the Blue Palace and watching it at home.

He wanted to find something inside, but he couldn't find it.

Li Xuanbing asked him to help with housework and clear his mind. Usually he would find an excuse to run away, but today he wanted to try something else.

Louis rolled up his trousers, took off his clothes, and walked into the most difficult room to clean without any hesitation.

He chose the bathroom of his own free will, like a man jumping on a grenade in a war movie.

This was his first time cleaning the bathroom. Just like in the game, he chose the hard mode when he first started, and was defeated. In the end, he had to call for help/nanny/Rachel.

"Men nowadays are getting more and more shameless. They can't even clean up a bathroom. Do you know that your father was the best at doing housework in the community?" Li Xuanbing sneered.

Louis said with a wonderful expression: "I am sure that my father is the only man in our community who can do housework."

"You have to do it too, inherit the legacy from your father!"

"Isn't that what I'm doing?" Louis was "cleaning" the refrigerator.

The specific method of cleaning is to use his mouth to find food in the refrigerator and eat whatever is available.

"Still eating, look at your belly!"

"Marlena, do you think my belly has changed since last week?"

Lorraine hesitated for a few seconds, "Uh, no."

"Mom, the eyes of the masses are sharp."

"That's because she doesn't want to hurt you. You're definitely fatter than last year. Maybe the crotch thing doesn't work anymore. Doesn't she want to have more children in the future?"

Lorraine chuckled.

Louis complained mournfully: "You still don't believe me when I tell you that I had an unfortunate childhood. Look, I can't hold my head up in front of my mother now. Did I have any good fruits to eat when I was a child?"

"You must be too naughty." Lorraine seemed to already know how to build a harmonious relationship with a Chinese-style mother-in-law.

That is to support my mother-in-law unconditionally.

Although Louis didn't get more fun from the cleaning, at least he got Bird out of his mind and relaxed.

May 18th, a special day.

On this day, the Western Conference semifinals came to an end.

Magic, who leads the team with a single core, averaged 34 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists per game, leading the Lakers to a 4-2 victory over the Phoenix Suns and advancing to the Western Conference Finals, joining the Trail Blazers for the fourth consecutive year.

For the Blazers, you couldn't ask for a better script.

Just like when Christian evangelist Jimmy Swaggart was exposed in February this year for purchasing sex, anti-Christians across the United States immediately became active.

The world's most famous preacher blatantly committed the crime of rape and cried bitterly to God on live broadcast across the United States. In Louis's eyes, he could be compared with Gary Hart's dramatic defeat and Clinton's shocking defeat.

Victory, a plagiarism scandal over Sleepy Joe's (the guy you're thinking of) speeches, and a Time survey confirming that 13% of Americans believe the moon is made of cheese, tying it with the release of Die Hard in 1988

An iconic American moment.

Magic brought a terrible Lakers team into the Western Conference Finals, met with the Trail Blazers, and gave Jordan a chance to take revenge. This is the best story that can happen in the Western Conference.

If Louis had a vote, he would give Magic a vote for this year's MVP.

But unfortunately, he didn't.

The 1987-88 regular season MVP was won by Ralph Sampson of the Boston Celtics.

This is the first time Sampson has won the MVP in his eight years in the industry.

He can finally truly claim that this is his year.

On May 19, the Knicks arrived in Boston.

This is the game day of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. There are countless media, and many reporters are familiar faces.

Louie only answered Bob Ryan's questions.

Ryan asked: "Little Lu, you said at the end of the semifinals that you were sure to beat the Celtics. Do you still think so now?"

"Of course, do you think I came here to lose?" Louis asked with a smile.