The rest is just noise

With 68 wins and 14 losses, the Knicks once again ranked first in the league.

Compared with the past two seasons, the advantage is no longer obvious.

The Lakers, ranked second in the league, won 66 games, followed by the Celtics, ranked third in the league. Under Sampson's historic performance, they won 65 games, ranking third in the league.

Compared with the Lakers, Knicks and Celtics, the East is not as competitive as the West.

Therefore, they have more opportunities to beat weak teams and the risk of losing is smaller.

If Wilson hadn't been injured during the season, the Knicks wouldn't have lost so many games in the second half.

Now, when the playoffs begin, everyone must keep their hearts in check.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks will face the Bulls.

This year's offseason, due to the withdrawal of Jerry Krause, Louis no longer regards the Bulls as his enemy...

They successfully completed the signing and gave Barkley a nominally larger contract than the Knicks gave Wilson.

In terms of amount, Barkley's contract is larger than Wilson's, but that contract has many clauses.

Barkley must meet those terms one by one before he can receive the full amount, otherwise only 90% is guaranteed.

If it only takes 90%, it will not be as good as Wilson.

And those terms are an impossible task for Barkley (attendance rate, body fat rate, honors), so Wilson is still the highest-paid player in the league.

This doesn't affect the Bulls' entry into the playoffs.

Barkley, who has fully entered his prime, has no patience to wait. The Bulls' big contract can only lock him in for a while.

Against the Knicks in the playoffs, the Bulls had no chance.

At the beginning of Game 1, the Bulls gave the Knicks a small surprise.

Dan Marley, the Knicks' young player at the time, steadily improved with the Bulls and was one of the contributors to the Bulls' return to the playoffs.

After the start, his defensive quality was quite good, locking Miller down.

But it's a pity that today they ran into Ewing and Wilson who were in full swing.

The two of them worked hard and ended the game.

Although Barkley is brave alone, he cannot withstand the Knicks' tidal offensive.

Marly is only strong on the defensive end, but when it comes to the offensive end when it comes to the defense of its old club, it has to take a break when it's time to take a break.

No one else on the Bulls can help Barkley.

In the second half, Louis played his cards expertly.

He took both Ewing and Wilson off the roster, and actually let two second-year players Doug West and Shawn Kemp enter.

Kemp partnered with Rodman, which was a mobile five-man team without a pure center.

Kemp faced Barkley for the first time in the playoffs.

His ability to switch defenses is better, and he is faster than Barkley in tracking back from a double attack. His main focus is on athleticism and quick counterattacks. If he falls into a positional battle, he will be eaten alive by Barkley.

The Knicks' offense was flowing smoothly. Although no one could guard Barkley, the Bulls could not stop the Knicks' offense. West hit several three-pointers. Kemp, inspired by Reid, held the ball in singles, facing

Barkley's defense was easy to deal with. His foot speed, ball-handling skills and unique athletic talent in the league made even Barkley pale in comparison in front of him.

When Kemp rained down the Bulls' paint, the suspense of the game disappeared.

"I don't think there will be any changes in the next two games."

Louis typically ate from the bowl and looked into the pot.

The first round wasn't over yet, and he was already thinking about the semifinals.

Game2

Compared with whether the Bulls can upset the Knicks, the news that Lionel Simmons was publicly suspended by Louis is more concerning.

After Louis arrived in New York, few players obtained in the draft had serious problems in their private lives like Simmons.

In the eyes of others, Simmons just loves to play video games and is not a big problem, but Louis refuses to tolerate him.

Simmons had a very negative attitude towards Louis' discipline.

This matter was not a big deal, but during the playoffs, New York reporters felt that Simmons' obsession with video games was more important than the Knicks' first-round opponent.

The result of the game also reflects the strength of the Knicks.

Louis sat off the court the whole time and showed off a 13-man rotation. Barkley scored 29+22 to no avail, and the Bulls lost by 33 points in the end.

The most ridiculous thing is that before Game 3, NBC produced a gorgeous short film with Barkley as the protagonist.

Paired with the voice of NBC's ace commentator Bob Costas, people can't help but want to cheer for the Bulls: "This year, Charles Barkley has reached a career breaking point. After seven years of waiting, Sir Charles We've had enough of failure, and Chicago is looking forward to new life."

At the end of the short film, Barkley said sincerely to the camera: "If we can't win the championship, I will definitely collapse."

Is this the short clip the eighth team in the Eastern Conference deserves?

Is Barkley's statement something that the eighth-ranked core player in the Eastern Conference should say?

All Knicks members looked solemn.

Unlike the Bulls, they just want to end the series tonight.

133 to 100

With a 33-point gap, Barkley was out of the game with averages of 28 points, 20 rebounds and 6 assists per game.

In terms of strength, there is no one in the league. It can be said that the only ones better than him are Sampson, Jordan, The Tragedian, and Olajuwon.

The rest is gone.

Bird is 35 years old this year and is still plagued by injuries.

Ewing is stronger defensively than offensively, and Wilson has a balanced offense and defense, but his influence on the game needs to be further improved.

Therefore, Barkley is already among the top five in the league in terms of strength alone, and is one of the eight active superstars recognized by Louis.

Like Olajuwon, he was unable to go further due to the team's poor strength.

"I'm done!"

Those were the first words Barkley said as he walked out of the Chicago Stadium.

As for whether the second season of "Sir Charles: Escape from Chicago" can have a perfect result, it still depends on the operation of the Bulls team.

The Knicks' opponent in the semifinals is the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers played five games against the Pistons in the first round and finally defeated the Pistons.

Danny Manning, the famous first-round war god, followed up his brutal attack on Miami last year, and this year he also attacked the fourth-place Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference.

In the five games of the first round, Manning averaged 37 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists per game. When the Pistons faced him, they had no answer.

In the fifth game, Manning went from a three-pointer to the basket to catch the ball and dunk. He played brilliantly throughout the game and stunned Robert Parish. He scored 42 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals. These four items The data are the highest for both teams.

That's why he was called Sampson II.

Except for height, he and Sampson are almost identical.

Sampson's success has pointed the way forward for this all-around unicorn insider.

Pacers general manager Donnie Walsh shrewdly copied Louie's training of Sampson, and also learned from Louie's method of selecting Oakley to protect Ewing in the Knicks.

They used a two-pronged approach. In the first two years of his career, Manning was allowed to attack four and defend three. They would rather let him be used as a loophole by the opponent's third position than let him touch the inside. When he got up against it, he would slowly move to the fourth position.

Transformation.

Now, Manning plays the fourth position under normal circumstances and the fifth position when fighting small balls. At the same time, he has the offensive means of the third position.

He looks like a Sampson who is more than ten centimeters shorter.

However, Ewing only recognized one Sampson, and that was the one in Boston.

Manning, this little Sampson, let alone admit it, when he was playing against the Pacers, his eyes and expressions were full of contempt.

Despite Oakley's protection, Manning still couldn't perform to his first-round level against the Knicks.

The Knicks have Rodman and Kemp, two power forwards who are similar in size to him, have equal athletic ability and physical fitness, and are very tough defensively.

Kemp's defense lacked details, and Rodman was last season's DPOY. Under his guard, Manning scored a total of 41 points in the first two games of the semifinals and shot 40% from the field.

If the inside core only has this kind of output and efficiency, the Pacers will naturally not be able to win.

Back at home, Manning is eager to use the home court advantage to attack the Knicks inside.

Unexpectedly, Louis made another plan to "forbid opponents to lay up."

The core meaning of this deployment is clear and clear, not allowing the opponent to score in the penalty area. If the Pacers have a chance to score, but the Knicks' defense cannot be in place, then rough fouls are their only option.

Rodman, Kemp and Wilson took Manning down several times.

In the second half, when Rodman attacked Manning from behind, Oakley gave up on his former teammate friendship and punched Rodman, successfully saving him.

The current backbone of the Knicks was saved by Oakley all the way back then. They looked like bandits in the eyes of others, but in front of Oakley, they didn't even dare to think about fighting. In addition to carrying out Louis' instructions, they would not do anything else.

Absolutely not.

Oakley punched Rodman and was called for a technical foul. Rodman just looked at him and walked away without any intention of responding.

There is a silent tacit understanding within the Knicks, and each of them is like an assassin.

Seeing their performance like this, Oakley knew in his heart that he would never be able to protect Manning.

Game3

The Pacers suffered a disastrous defeat, and the Knicks held the match point 3-0.

The next day, the league announced the winners of major awards for the regular season.

As for the Knicks, Louis failed to win the title of Coach of the Year.

Ewing was selected to the All-NBA team along with Sampson, Barkley, Jordan and Tragedy.

Together with Jordan, Sampson, Rodman, Olajuwon, and Wilson, he was selected to the All-Defensive Team (occasionally six people were selected for the defensive team).

Stockton was selected to the third team again.

Wilson, who won a personal Grand Slam last season, only played in 52 regular season games this season and was only selected to the third team.

But at the same time, voters recognized Wilson's defense very highly.

When he was voted into the All-NBA lineup, his attendance rate was taken into consideration, but when he was voted into the defensive lineup, he was not.

This naturally set off the media.

Reporters from other places all sneered at this, talking about how much New York added to Knicks players, how unfair it was to players from other regions, and so on.