The rest is just noise

In 1981, the Celtics were led 3-1 by the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals and were in a desperate situation. After that, they used an improved version of the pocket formation to win three games in a row.

After that, there were countless teams using the pocket formation, but very few teams used it well.

Because just a pocket array cannot trap a spiritual superstar.

The beauty of the pocket formation lies in the linkage between players and the small local pockets.

Looking around the league, only Louis can use his brains on small pockets.

And this is also a necessary condition to limit super players like Danny Manning without adequate defensive configuration.

Louis asked Shafir to draw a court and explained in detail how to restrict Manning according to the location of the court.

This is just a suggestion. Whether or not the Heat coaching staff uses it depends on how Shafir communicates with the coaching staff.

Louis put himself in his shoes and thought about it. If he were a coach and his general manager came up to teach him how to set up a defensive formation, he would definitely think that the other side was crazy, right?

In any industry, it is taboo for outsiders to interfere with insiders.

But when Shafir listened to Louis's suggestion and hired coaches, he hired novices who had no experience and did not have strong personalities.

Therefore, Louis' suggestion was adopted and it worked in the first half of Game 6.

But starting from the second half, Louis' method began to fail.

Because that is the Heat's temporary defensive formation, it has many flaws. As long as the Pacers' coaching staff is willing, it is not difficult to find loopholes.

However, the advantage established in the first half was enough for the Heat to win the final victory.

Petrovic and Reggie Lewis were once again the cornerstones in ensuring the Heat's victory.

Hank Gathers was held down by Manning for six straight games.

Louis believes that conflicting attributes exist, but it is quite rare for them to be so obvious.

After watching three games between the Heat and the Pacers, Louis discovered another problem.

Since Gathers rarely got the ball in the low post, when he was beaten by Manning, he basically didn't respond to the ball.

On the defensive end, like Manning, he is mediocre in individual defense and excellent in assist defense.

Since the one-on-one defense was mediocre, it was naturally difficult to restrict Manning. He was unable to respond after being scored one after another. Of course, the more he played, the less confident he became.

Preventing Gaithers from being overburdened is one of the Heat's long-term plans.

But Louis really didn't understand the contradiction between not overburdening players and not developing Gathers' singles ability.

This time, he did not point out the problem. He hoped that the Heat would discover the problem themselves.

By Game 7, the Heat and Pacers had no trump cards.

In Louis' eyes, the Heat's only remaining card is to let Gathers hold the ball to attack Manning.

Influencing the opponent's state through offense is also a way of playing, but the Heat have never found the trick.

In the tiebreaker, Manning played 45 minutes and was invincible, scoring 46 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

In Louis' eyes, he is no longer like an inside post, but more like a 2.08 meter shooting guard.

Looking at his shooting hot spots, he really doesn't look like an inside line.

Of those 46 points, only 10 came from the basket, and the rest were all shots from outside the paint area.

It is precisely because of his unanswerable shooting that the Heat's pocket formation loses its effectiveness.

A rigid pocket formation, a pocket formation without small pockets to cooperate, has no way to face this kind of monster that can kill the game with shooting.

After the game, Manning said provocatively: "I wonder if the president of the Heat can keep his word."

Unexpectedly, Shafir was unambiguous when he claimed: "Did I say such a thing? If I did, it must have been when I was extremely unconscious. I am a complete carnivore.

If I gave up eating meat for a year, let alone a year, and went vegetarian for a week, I would die."

When encountering such a cheater, as long as he thinks it's okay, there's nothing anyone else can do about it.

Reaching the conference finals is a big deal for the Pacers.

The last time they reached such heights was back in the ABA, and since entering the NBA, they've been making mistakes.

Among the many mistakes they made, the biggest one was holding the No. 1 pick in 1979 but not being willing to wait for Bird for a year.

Because of this mistake, they didn't see the light of day until they drafted Manning in 1988.

Back to the Eastern Conference Finals, but without any possibility of going further.

The Knicks are like a hard wall, blocking every team in the Eastern Conference from dreaming of reaching the Finals.

In the West, it is not surprising that the two teams in the Western Conference Finals will meet.

It's still the Trail Blazers and the Lakers. But this time, without the tragedy, the Lakers can't stop the surging Trail Blazers.

Valley

The day before the conference finals, the league announced the winners of the 1991-92 regular season MVP.

Michael Jordan narrowly defeated Benjamin Wilson and was elected MVP for the second time in his career.

This is a powerful counterattack to New York's argument that favors Knicks players.

Because the Knicks won more games, Wilson's statistics were not much different from Jordan's, but it was Jordan who won the award.

The media in New York not only want to spray back the public opinion that was previously criticized for "New York City Dividend", but they also want to put pressure on Jordan.

After losing the MVP, Wilson's attitude towards the game became more serious.

Louis could tell that he was holding his breath and wanted to prove that he was more worthy of the MVP than Jordan.

Wilson lost the MVP this time due to several factors.

Jordan's statistics and game performance are significantly better than his. Moreover, he serves as a full-time point guard under Riley, giving up the scoring champion to improve the performance of his teammates, and helping Barkley integrate into the team. These aspects are in line with what the judges call "let go."

teammates become better” standards.

There is also aesthetic fatigue.

Since 1988, only last season's MVP was not Ewing or Wilson.

This year, neither Ewing nor Wilson's performance is at the level that makes people feel compelled to award MVP, so it makes sense to award Jordan, who has a similar record to them but has more outstanding content.

It's just a pain for the Pacers who faced off against the Knicks.

The Pacers, who had defeated the Knicks in two consecutive rounds, did not dare to expect too much when facing the Knicks.

Their goal is just to win one game.

Louis somewhat deliberately demonstrated how to defend Danny Manning in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

First of all, Ewing squats in the pit to defend, but you also need to pay attention to skills when squatting in the pit.

Just like some people who don't know how to squat in pits often get stuck in the grain cycle, people who don't pay attention to skills will never enjoy the process of going to the toilet.

Louis asked Ewing to squat in the middle to guard against Manning's unsolvable throw into the paint.

Once his throw is made, even behemoths like Ball and Eaton can't catch it, so he can't be given a chance to make an easy shot. Ewing's location happens to be his favorite spot to throw.

Moreover, Louis deliberately asked McHale to send someone who seemed unable to guard Manning to limit him through defensive strategies.

Louis asked McHale to stick to Manning's body and prevent him from going left. He is not left-handed, but he likes to break through from the left.

Guard the left side, put it on the right side, and stay close to the body, leaving no chance for shooting.

To guard against an inside man who is good at sudden shots on the offensive end, choosing to make sudden shots is another counterintuitive choice.

But Louis had to do it.

According to data provided by Oracle, after entering the playoffs, Manning's field goal percentage outside the paint area was an astonishing 56%, and his field goal percentage on drives to the basket was 49%. When faced with a seven-foot inside defense, his shooting percentage was astonishing.

The penalty area shooting percentage is 45%.

Once he encounters inside help, his attack-to-the-basket style, which lacks physical and strength advantages, cannot guarantee high efficiency.

It's even worse when you encounter a rim-protecting devil of Ewing's caliber.

Whenever Manning rushed from the right at a 45-degree angle along the route designed by Louis, Wilson's help made him lose his way.

He could still find Chuck Person initially, but he found that Miller and Stockton could rotate at any time.

They rotate faster than his passes.

Overall, the Pacers' offense relies heavily on Manning.

Just like four guarantees and one in League of Legends, AD relies heavily on AD to deal damage in team battles. If Manning cannot deal the damage expected by the team, the Pacers' offense will be constipated.

The problem that has plagued the Heat for several years was easily solved by Louis.

After that, it was like chopping melons and vegetables, easily destroying the walkers.

The Knicks' ease reflected the difficulty of the Western Conference. The Trail Blazers and Lakers went into overtime in the first game.

In the end, the Lakers, who lacked key players, lost to the Trail Blazers.

Louis was not concerned about the situation in the west for the time being.

On the night of the defeat to the Pacers, Lewis Shafir called Louis' home and said whimsically: "Hey, Coach Lu, it would be great if you could be our coach."

"If you give me 50 million a year, maybe I will consider it." Louis really dared to speak.

I just don’t know if Shafir is serious or if he is just following his nonsense: “If I were the boss, I would definitely be willing to sign you at this price.”

"Perhaps you should ask your boss for advice. If he is willing to pay this price, I will report to your place tomorrow."

While chatting with Louis, Shafir did not forget to ask about any suitable candidates in this year's draft.

His only need in this year's draft is to select someone who is suitable for guarding Danny Manning. He can no longer tolerate his team being slaughtered by that bastard Manning year after year.