The rest is just noise

It was a rough night for Pat Riley, who was determined to double kill the Knicks.

Because his self-proclaimed nemesis Louis, a bastard, took a needle and burst their bubble.

The Pioneers are stronger than they appear on the surface, but there are many problems internally.

If the quad-core cannot maximize the threat on the offensive end, it is not unsolvable from the perspective of offense and defense alone.

The Knicks found a hole in the Blazers tonight.

The most unexpected thing is that the Trail Blazers' Verdun defense did not have the desired effect.

In the Christmas game, the Trail Blazers and the Knicks met on a narrow road. They established an advantage with their core talent and passed the Verdun defense line so that the Knicks could not keep up with their intensity, and they won.

In the second meeting a few months later, the Knicks completely changed their style of play.

Louis not only found the destiny of the Trail Blazers, but also gave an open class on "how to beat the Trail Blazers".

The defense looks for weaknesses, and the offense uses pick-and-rolls.

This is his answer to other teams.

Although this answer may not seem so easy to copy, it is better than being randomly killed by the pioneers.

There are also some things that can be met but cannot be sought, such as the Blazers, who become more and more frustrated as they play.

For example, the Knicks' state gradually improves as the game progresses.

While they followed Louis' instructions and used the N.UCLA system, they also had to make full use of the singles abilities of Wilson and Ewing.

In the fourth quarter, Jordan said no to the defeat.

He took over the game and every offense had to go through his hands.

In order to defend him, Rodman and Ewing need to leave their original defensive positions when necessary.

This is a pity.

Because Jordan's offensive threat was too great, the Knicks couldn't let it go.

The Knicks' defensive arrangement is basically that Ewing serves as the core to protect the basket and covers the middle, and the three-point line should not shrink as much as possible, because Jordan and Thomas both have three-pointers.

But this also matches the Knicks' configuration characteristics. Apart from Ewing, the Knicks' best defender Rodman has to defend the opponent's ball carrier from time to time.

If Rodman is contained and Ewing leaves the penalty area, the Knicks will lack a forward who can help protect the basket.

Wilson's shot-blocking ability is good, but his blocks are more obtained in one-on-one defense and high-post sweeps.

For a while, the Trail Blazers' defensive positioning was very telling. Jordan was a smart cutter. He could suddenly drive to the basket when his teammates were picking and rolling, and the gap left by the Trail Blazers after screening was very suitable for Jordan to use his strengths.

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As long as Jordan enters his offensive range, he basically doesn't have to look at his teammates.

The harder Jordan exploded, the more ashamed Barkley felt.

They said they wanted to teach the Knicks a lesson, but now, they are the ones being taught a lesson.

The Knicks used a hearty victory to rewrite their regular season record with the Trail Blazers to 1-1.

If Portlanders prefer to say that this game is Game 9 as a continuation of the finals, then the Knicks will lead 5-4 by a big score because of this victory.

No matter which game it was, the Knicks won.

They opened up the Blazers' scars and made other teams realize how to play this team.

There is still some time before the end of the regular season.

The Trail Blazers' schedule in the final stages is not easy, with many strong teams and few weak teams.

Therefore, if those teams wisely learn from the Knicks' experience, they have a good chance of overturning the Trail Blazers.

After the game, Pat Riley criticized some of the players.

"If we can't perform better, we can't even talk about defeating New York and establishing a new dynasty." Lailey said, "I really hate the hype about us from the outside world. The regular season is not over yet, and anything is possible in the playoffs.

It happened, the Knicks are a very strong team, it is absurd to think that they lack competitiveness, and it is even more absurd to take the praise of the public opinion circle seriously."

"We can see that New York has made a lot of preparations for this game, but our players did not bring the corresponding intensity."

"Except for MJ, everyone else's performance was substandard."

The Knicks, for their part, kept their wits about them.

The players didn't fight back against the media who belittled them just because they beat the Trail Blazers on the road.

Louis said modestly: "This is just an ordinary game, we won, that's all."

Defeating his top rival should have been a good thing, but a reporter from California asked a difficult question for Ewing.

"Patrick, we noticed that Mohammad Rauf has been trying to avoid the opening ceremony in recent games, do you know why?"

If Louis were Ewing, he would have many excuses to cover for Rauf.

But he's not Ewing.

Ewing's high and low quotient makes people worry about his answer.

"You can't ask everyone to be as patriotic as me, right?"

Ewing laughed ugly.

He smiled like this on purpose, fearing that others wouldn't know he was joking.

Fortunately, this is an acceptable way to deal with it.

Although saying that teammates are not patriotic during interviews will cause some other problems, being unpatriotic is always more acceptable than the truth. The truth is that Rauf is not only unpatriotic, but also has a clear tendency to hate his country.

Ewing gave an unpleasant but reasonable answer that would not cause an uproar.

Because he said that Rauf was not patriotic, which was a joke.

If you are willing to take it seriously, then take it seriously. If you don’t want to take it seriously, just treat it as a cold joke made by Ewing, and reporters will not ask the truth.

After all, Ewing said he was unpatriotic. If you want to know more, wouldn't it be better to ask him directly?

However, due to his religious beliefs, Rauf has a very distant relationship with the media.

He would rather be fined than give an interview.

For this reason, Knicks specifically applied for an exception from the league for him.

Because Rauf suffers from Tourette syndrome, if he is under too much pressure, he will twitch uncontrollably and swear. Once he has an attack in front of the media, it will inevitably lead to a media disaster.

Even if it is not for his own sake, but for the league's image, it is reasonable to ban such a person from attending the press conference.

The Knicks used this to successfully apply for an exception for Rauf's refusal to be interviewed.

This game affected the internal stability of the Blazers.

Barkley was publicly criticized by Thomas in an internal meeting for his poor performance.

Alvin Robertson was also criticized by Jordan because he did not cooperate with others in the Verdun defense. Although he was strong in individual defense, if he did not cooperate well with his teammates, the full-court press would not be able to achieve 1+1+

The effect of 1+1+1>5.

Moreover, their next opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers, quickly copied the Knicks' work.

In the game against the Trail Blazers, the Lakers' fake pick-and-roll took off.

Relying on the internal passing of the twin towers of Robinson and Divac, Sabonis was completely suppressed.

Plus the outside shooting of Hornacek and Sam Perkins.

The Lakers have a luxurious lineup. Although they lack a tragic player, they are still a team capable of reaching the Western Conference Finals.

112 to 107

The Trail Blazers suffered a losing streak.

Then, in the second game against the Pacers, Danny Manning played his strongest game of the season.

They also copied the Knicks' work. Manning made various fake pick-and-roll moves and outside rolls, eating inside and outside shooting. He scored 54 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks in the game, and tipped in to beat the Trail Blazers in the last round.

The Trail Blazers, who suffered three consecutive losses, finally relied on the heroic performance of Jordan and Thomas to defeat the Hornets who tried to make them swallow their fourth consecutive defeat, thereby ending the losing streak.

However, consecutive defeats also made their number one position in the league no longer stable.

The Knicks have been in better shape every game since the All-Star break.

Internal problems seem to be suppressed by external pressure.

At the end of March, the Knicks faced the Sacramento Kings.

Currently, the Kings are ranked tenth from the bottom in the league.

In terms of ranking, they belong to the middle and lower reaches of the team.

However, looking at the lineup, this team is not bad.

Louis was happy to see them ranked so low.

Because the Kings' first-round pick this year and the first-round pick in 1996 are both in the hands of the Knicks.

In this campaign, Benjamin Wilson played brilliantly, scoring 49 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists with only 1 free throw in the game.

This victory tied the Knicks' record with the Trail Blazers. Both teams now have 58 wins and 10 losses.

Although the head-to-head record between the two teams is 1-1, the Knicks are ranked ahead of the Trail Blazers because they have won more points.

But soon, this deadlock was broken.

Also in the final game of the month, the Trail Blazers played the Clippers for the third time this season.

The Trail Blazers, who were suspected of having major internal problems, lost to the Clippers when the entire team was depressed.

With 58 wins and 11 losses, the Knicks have a one-game lead, ranking second in the league, and the league's first is the Miami Heat.

It is a pity that although this team has risen, it has not risen completely.

Because their primary goal is to kill Danny Manning's Indiana Pacers