The rest is just noise

No matter in his past life or this life, in basketball, Louis has only seen one person who can be described as like Hannibal in "Silence of the Lambs".

That man is Jordan. He is a killer who will rip your heart out and if you give him a chance, he will kill you mercilessly at the critical moment.

In the timeline that Louis is more familiar with, Jordan never lost in the Finals.

But now, he has been defeated. Moreover, he was swept away without dignity.

If any player is swept in the playoffs, as long as he still wants a place in history, this will be a lifelong stain, let alone if this happens in the finals?

To this day, Louis no longer believes that Jordan will become the GOAT of the NBA in this world.

Because in the eyes of most people, the most important thing for Jordan to be elected as GOAT was completely broken.

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing for Jordan. In the original timeline, although he harvested the 1990s like a conqueror, he never had one person who could conquer him like the black and white duo of the 1980s.

An opponent who was pushed to the limit. He was so bored that after completing the first three consecutive championships, he chose to play baseball in the minor leagues regardless of the fact that he was still in his prime.

It's hard to prove with data how much this hurts basketball itself, and it severely weakened Jordan himself.

And in this world, he has a rival.

This opponent is not a specific player, but the Knicks under Louis.

They have the same characteristics as the Bad Boys Legion, but there are differences.

The difference is Louis. He has no other skills. He is good at planning, calculating, and planning ahead. He will make up for whatever the team lacks. He is determined to turn the Knicks into the most successful team after the Celtics. He will crush Jordan to pieces.

team as its mission to cross over.

Now, Louis saw the anger burning in Jordan's eyes.

What a fierce fighting spirit and strong murderous intent?

Louis saw an almost pathological competitiveness in those dangerous pupils.

This is why, when Jordan came up to steal two consecutive Knicks goals and started the game 4-0, Louis had no other reaction.

He was admiring it.

"Coach, it looks like MJ is going to get 10 steals." Zhao Yuanzheng reminded Louis that the situation was not good.

Louis waved his hand and shouted to Stockton: "John, be steady."

The full-court press under Jordan's leadership was ineffective.

They didn't complete another steal. Stockton brought the ball upcourt and passed it to Ewing in the low post.

Every time he plays against the Trail Blazers, Ewing's offensive role will increase.

Because he has an absolute advantage inside.

Jordan came over to help defend like a cheetah, not forgetting to use his wingspan to block Ewing's passing route.

Even Jordan in 1988, in Louis' eyes, had no flaws except for his three-point failure.

What's more, not being able to shoot three-pointers can't be considered a flaw when not facing the Knicks.

However, no matter how good his defense is, he cannot avoid the negligence of others.

Clyde Drexler was a star player who struggled under Pitino.

Pitino requires them to run a massive full-court press every game.

Jordan can do it, but he can't.

In the Knicks' lineup tonight, Miller plays the third position and faces Drexler. Drexler has never been very defensive. Long before Pitino arrived, he often missed defenses in games.

The focus of off-ball defense is particularly poor, but the Knicks are the team in the league that likes to play tricks in the high post and encourages shooters to shoot three-pointers. In a sense, for the Trail Blazers, the shooters on the weak side are the most likely.

The point of explosion.

Drexler's poor defensive awareness allowed Miller to smell a shooting opportunity.

This natural killer received Ewing's pass at the top of the arc, raised his hand, and shot before the glider defense arrived!

"Whoosh!"

"Reggie Miller has the style of Dale Ellis." Stockton solemnly introduced, "When he entered the league in his first year, he was able to play in the talented Knicks. This is no small thing.

.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Larry Nance relied on his amazing physical fitness to stage an alley-oop with Drexler.

6 to 3

This scene made Louis furious.

He angrily accused Rodman: "Dennis, do you still want to win DPOY? Do you not want to play anymore? Where are you on your fucking defense? Where were you just now? Were you not fucking awake?"

Louis stood on the sidelines and blasted Rodman, and tonight's referee, Jim Clark, a rookie referee who is new to the league, wanted to establish his authority: "Lu, control your emotions."

"What the hell does it have to do with you that I scolded my people?" Louis knew that the other person was a rookie, so he didn't give any face to him and just yelled at him.

Clark was completely stunned by Louis' vicious face. This was his first season as a referee, and he did not want to cause conflicts with a well-known coach in the industry.

"I just want you to calm down, Coach Lu."

"Have I influenced you?"

"No?"

"Mr. Referee, look at my mouth shape." Louis repeated that sentence.

Regardless of whether Clark left an impression on Louis or not, Rodman didn't dare to be careless anymore.

If Louis is called for a technical foul by the referee for scolding him, will he be able to reap good fruits in the future?

Fortunately, the referee tonight is a softie!

Rodman suddenly felt that he was the luckiest man in the world. Referees are generally difficult to deal with and like to defend their authority, but for a rookie like Clark, his first thought was to maintain the stability of the situation.

Veteran referees all know that once you are afraid of making things bigger, opportunists like Louis will seize on your weaknesses and take full advantage of them.

The Trail Blazers' defense is still tight.

This round, they didn't press the whole court.

Jordan and Cosey stayed in the midfield position to lead the defense, while the others remained alert.

However, Louis' gesture was clear.

Rodman positioned Miller in the high post to screen.

Stockton passed the ball and Miller took the ball, attracting the attention of many people. After he just made a three-pointer, it was difficult for the Blazers to take their eyes away from him.

However, Miller is also just bait.

In order to maintain the flexibility of help defense, Jordan had almost no defense against Hornacek. Hornacek relied on other people's rotation, but the Knicks opened up the N.UCLA system, even if the Blazers' wings were among the best in the league

It's second to none and I can't take care of it.

From the left corner, Hornacek made a hollow three-pointer from the outside.

6 to 6

"This is the value of three-pointers. The Trail Blazers scored three goals, and they only needed two goals to get back."

Cunningham acted as the Trail Blazers assistant coach in the commentary box: "If the Portlanders continue to maintain such poor defensive communication, they will definitely be severely punished tonight. The coaching staff needs to emphasize perimeter defense to the players. By just now

Those two goals, they should let the players know what the focus of today's defense is."

Jordan, who worked too hard on the defensive end, missed an open mid-range shot.

"He's not tough either, so his defense will be tiring."

Jordan chose to press the Knicks on the spot as punishment for missing a mid-range shot.

Jerome Cosey matched his intensity, but there was a glaring problem with Pitino's 2-2-1 full-court press.

College-level competition allows upperclassmen to use physical confrontation to crush them.

Not in the NBA.

The players' average level and talent pool are unimaginable in college basketball.

It is impossible for just two players to stop the Knicks' progress.

Stockton easily passed Jordan's defense by cooperating with others.

In the frontcourt, Ewing and Stockton moved to the weak side.

Stockton passed the ball and Porter double-teamed.

Ewing passed the ball to Stockton, who was open on the outside and scored his third three-pointer.

"Whoosh!"

"This is what I said, the Blazers must not miss it no matter what!"

9 to 6

The situation was suddenly reversed, and Pitino still looked steady.

Louis' players found the feeling of the game in these rounds.

Since the Trail Blazers' shooting range has not improved significantly this season, Louis still mainly uses pocket formations to deal with them.

The pocket formation is spread out on all sides. If you want to shoot three-pointers, you have to interfere with the mid-range shot. Do you want to hit the penalty area? Don't even think about it.

This is why, when Nance dunked an alley-oop just now, Louis was as furious as if he had been hit by a thousand-year-old killer.

He would rather be killed by Jordan's defensive shot than let the Trail Blazers attack the basket, let alone alley-oop operations that can mobilize the atmosphere.

On the Trail Blazers' wing, Jerome Causey, who always pressed the whole court with Jordan, ran to the low post.

In order to grab the ball, Rodman actually lost his defensive position.

Cosey caught the ball and turned around, with only the basket in front of him.

He's going to dunk.

However, just as Cosey was about to take off, Rodman used his faster reflexes to catch up and knocked him to the ground from behind.

The referee blows the whistle.

The fans in Memorial Coliseum booed harshly as Rodman's blow to Causey reminded them of their loss in the Finals.

Yes, the Knicks used this inhumane method to crush Portland.

"The anger of Portlanders is understandable. Dennis Rodman's actions are not running for the ball at all. He is a butcher!"

"You can't beat the Knicks with a full-court press."

The fierce side of the Knicks was once again displayed in front of their opponents.

It caused such a big commotion, but Louis snorted indifferently.

Where is this?