The rest is just noise

"Dennis, please replace Benj."

After the timeout, the first adjustment Louis made was to replace Wilson and rest.

Next, he asked Hornacek to replace Stockton.

The Celtics' defensive strategy is not complicated. To sum it up directly, it is to find a way to assign the opponent's player with the worst offensive ability to Bird.

For the Knicks, Stockton's independent offensive ability is not strong, but he is a point guard. If Bird is used to defend, even if they are both white people, the former's speed cannot be compared with the latter's. Therefore, let Bird guard the ball.

Yes, it is the safest strategy.

"Reggie, do you know why Larry is guarding you?" Louis said mercilessly, "Because you are the weakest player on our books. You have to stand up and score to let them remember you!"

"Dennis, on the defensive end, do whatever it takes to trap Larry. Do whatever it takes. Don't worry about the number of fouls you commit. Remember, he is injured!" What Louis means is, don't let an injured Bird be beaten.

exploded.

How Rodman would interpret that last sentence is another matter.

"Little Lu, the timeout is over!"

Referee Paul Michalak came over and reminded.

As the players prepared to play, Louis pulled Hornacek and said as he walked: "Every time we pick and roll, the Celtics defenders will retreat. They expect that we will not seize the gap of less than one second.

"

"Coach, what do you want me to do?" Hornacek asked.

Louis said seriously: "If they give you a shot, even if it takes less than a second, you have to take it."

Hornacek hesitated a little: "That's not my shooting rhythm."

"Just vote!" Louis encouraged. "It's your fault if you win. If you don't, it's mine!"

The timeout ended, the Knicks replaced two players, and the Celtics lineup remained unchanged.

12 to 4

Seeing the Knicks' substitutions, Dick Stockton habitually consulted his two partners.

Billy Cunningham and Tom Heinsohn both had championships as head coaches, not to mention their Hall of Fame playing careers.

"Billy, Tom, what do you think of the Knicks' substitutions?"

"Let me tell you, little Lu was seriously ill and went to the doctor."

Whenever given the opportunity, Cunningham will deny Louie: "Is Jeff Hornacek better than John Stockton? I can't see it, you know Stockton has just been selected to the second team, and again

The league's assist leader, and Hornacek is just his backup. Remove Stockton from the Knicks, and they will lose at least 10 more regular season games. Remove Hornacek? I don't think there will be anything

Variety."

"As for Dennis Rodman replacing Benjamin Wilson, it better reflects the panic of little exposure. It is normal for Benjamin to suffer in front of Larry. There is a gap in their experience, that is, combat power, skills, and strength. If there is no Benjamin

, can the Knicks sweep the Pistons? I don’t think so, this young man is the future of New York, and being beaten by Larry is the only way for his career, but his coach doesn’t think so.”

Cunningham's ill will toward Louis can be felt even by people who don't know the history between them.

"It can be seen that Little Lu is a person who is eager for quick success." Cunningham gave his conclusion, "He is unwilling to give young people the soil and space to grow. He only looks at the results and not the process..."

"Ahem..."

"Tom, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Billy, can you let me say a few words?"

Heinsohn's position is with the Celtics, and he is unwavering on this point.

Although Louis is now the head coach of the Knicks, he stayed in Boston for six or seven years, and his planning was indispensable for the establishment of the Celtics dynasty.

Led the team to win the championship in 1984, laying the foundation for the Celtics to restore the dynasty of the 1960s for four consecutive championships.

Although the Celtics fans disliked him so much because of the "purple suit" incident in 1985 and the infamous "cigar smoking" before the end, it did not affect them old people, including Reed Auerbach.

The Green Kais spoke highly of him.

They regretted the departure of Louis. In terms of age, if they want to find a successor for Auerbach, he is the most suitable.

After leaving the Celtics, he also proved that he is not only a top scout and coach, but also the chief architect of a championship team like Auerbach did.

It only took him four years to get to this point, and most people wouldn't be able to fault his work.

Cunningham, however, made an attack on the commentary table out of his own selfishness. If he had just said a few words casually, Heinsohn would not have reacted.

Unexpectedly, well, this guy is getting more and more excited as he talks, and he has the intention of trampling all Louis' past achievements to the ground and not counting them.

So he pretended to cough, interrupted Cunningham's "casting", and then supported Louis: "Some time ago, "Sports Illustrated", "The New York Times", "Associated Press" and "24 Hours" and "USA Today"

A joint vote was conducted to select the best head coach in the NBA. 25 reporters from the five most influential newspapers in the United States made their selections, and Louis received 19 votes."

"This is nothing at all. The reporter doesn't understand the game at all."

"That's right, then they conducted an anonymous vote and selected 50 players in the league to choose the best head coach in their minds. Louis still got 24 votes and ranked first."

Heinsohn smiled lightly and said: "Billy, I don't think you should blame Little Lu for not being able to lead the team to defeat the Celtics, because the Celtics are a true dynasty team that no one can beat."

They. Moreover, I don’t think Little is at his wits end. The series has just begun.”

While Heinsohn and Cunningham were arguing about Louie, on the court, McHale, as the oldest player on the team, took on the responsibility.

In the left elbow area, McHale blocked Sampson with his back.

Hornacek is not in a hurry to implement Louis' strategy, and it is a good thing for them that McHale will be in position.

The ball was passed, and the moment McHale got the basketball, Louis shouted: "Kevin, you are definitely no match for Ralph, don't be embarrassed!"

McHale originally wanted to keep a low profile and attract defensive passes, but if Louis looked down on him like this, he couldn't stand it and had to do it with Sampson!

McHale used all the strength of his body to hit the back. The point of impact of his elbow was obviously illegal, but no referee paid attention to his little move.

Sampson received an elbow, and McHale made an unpredictable right turn fake move, followed by a left turn and a fadeaway jumper.

The movement was too fast, and Sampson was deceived by his right turn, and his center of gravity flew out. Unexpectedly, McHale turned left to shake off his 2.2-meter body, and scored beautifully.

McHale scratched his armpit hair disdainfully: "That's it?"

"I understand the truth, can you please stop scratching your fucking armpit hair? I don't want to see it!" Louis yelled.

Not only did McHale not listen to Louis, he also felt that armpit hair scratching was an important ritual, as if everyone wanted to see him scratch armpit hair.

McHale's series of actions clearly aroused Sampson's fighting spirit.

Sampson runs like a glider. The running posture of great players is different from ordinary people.

They always fly close to the ground as if they have wings.

Sampson's teammates know he wants to get back on the court.

Louis put his five fingers together and shouted: "tightenup!" (Shrink the defense line)

Sampson's calculation was good, but his opponent was not defenseless.

On every game day, about 11% of Sampson's offenses will be carried out by "running quickly to the front three-point line to catch the ball and directly attacking the basket without pausing."

His hitting rate is very high in this offensive mode.

The Celtics can give him enough space. Imagine what it would be like for a 2-meter-2 big man to charge with the ball and crush him with his body like a Greek monster.

However, Louis could tell what Sampson was going to do by his running posture.

So let the players tighten their defense in advance.

No matter how fierce Sampson's ball-handling offense was, he still found it difficult to score points when surrounded by three or four people.

When he concentrates on attacking, he often ignores the position of his teammates. This may be Sampson's biggest shortcoming.

Even if you pass the ball, there is only one target...

"Don't pass it to Larry!" Thomas saw the Knicks' trap.

It's too late. When people panic, not only will their vision become narrowed, but their ears will also become inoperable.

Sampson passed the ball toward Bird, but he didn't look at anyone.

The ball went out first, and he saw Rodman, who was guarding Bird, never leaving Bird's side. The Knicks' "tightenup" did not include him!

Rodman intercepted Sampson's pass, and Hornacek and Miller made quick passes at the same time.

Rodman made a clumsy pass and the ball just landed in Miller's hands.

This rookie who has been dormant for a long time finally has a chance to score his first point in the Eastern Conference Finals...

"Reggie be careful!"

In disbelief, Sampson chased him back.

He did make a mistake, so when he saw Bird's position being taken by Rodman, he knew what would happen next.

When Miller and Hornacek were about to leave, he was the first Celtic player to catch up.

He flashed across the court like a meteor, the cheers in the Garden were like the roar of an arriving train, and Miller's layup was bloodily swatted out of bounds by Sampson.

"Coach, remember to thank Kevin for me." Today's Sampson is much more mature than when Louis left Boston. He has a mustache, but he can no longer hide the arrogance of a winner. "Thanks to him, I am sober.

too much."

Louis could see the changes in Sampson's face up close.

The league's No. 1 center is ready to dominate.

Players from the Celtics and Knicks came to the frontcourt one after another.

After McHale arrived, he didn't forget to irritate Sampson: "Wow, that hotpot just now was incredible, but if you didn't make a mistake, you wouldn't have to work so hard. Don't make the same mistake next time."

Sampson said with a smile: "Well, I just deeply reviewed my mistakes."