The rest is just noise

Whether this lineup can work against the Trail Blazers, Louis is not sure.

No matter how much potential Christie has, he is just a rookie right now.

Against the Trail Blazers, there can be no carelessness.

*

All he knew was that Doug Christie was a perfect fit for a murder tight end.

Although his defensive style was too clean for a murderous press, Louis was fascinated by his comprehensive skills.

Christie reminded Louie that the Knicks' roster still had some untapped potential.

Like the several rookies who just joined the team this year, except for Yu Tiancan who was able to contribute immediate combat ability as soon as he arrived, the others seemed to be missing something.

In this regard, Louis feels responsible.

Because the Knicks have encountered too many off-court disturbances this season, which has affected the entire team's preparations.

Louis has reason to ignore the rookies who are lacking in strength, but if the goal is to defeat the Trail Blazers and let the Knicks win six consecutive championships, then all the potential in the team must be tapped.

Christie used this game to prove that as long as it is used correctly, even a seemingly weak rookie can still be useful.

In Game 3 with the Heat, the Knicks won easily.

After the game, Billy Donovan commented on the Knicks' performance: "Obviously, the Knicks' combat power has reached a considerable level. This cannot be defeated by individual strength, but we are not desperate yet.

when."

"I always believe we can find a way out in front of the Knicks!"

Donovan's high-spirited speech did not give the Heat any advantage.

Because they obviously haven't made up their minds.

With a big score of 1 to 2, the Heat's performance in the fourth game of the series was still mediocre.

As a team with both physical talent and offensive and defensive discipline, the Heat did not perform the way fans wanted to see.

They clearly have the advantages of height, weight, wingspan, and excellent overall athletic ability. Coupled with a young and energetic coaching staff and excellent defensive and tactical qualities, they can come up with something no matter whether they encounter talent-oriented or team-oriented opponents.

response.

When the situation reached a stalemate, the Heat still had Petrovich, Dumars and Gathers to protect the bottom line.

The Heat's overall offensive and defensive configuration is not bad. As long as the touch is online, the defense can make the opponent uncomfortable and suppress the offensive end.

However, in front of the Knicks, their offense was not stable and their defense was repeatedly penetrated.

In addition to trusting his players, Louis also took the opportunity to test the limits of what the rookies can endure when facing the intensity of playoff games.

Doug Christie's answer in the third game was that as long as he feels online, he can play well.

In the fourth game, his touch no longer existed, and Donovan increased the intensity of the confrontation. This is actually what Louis wants to see.

Because it is impossible to find problems when a player is playing smoothly. Only when he is targeted and can still contribute, then he is a player who can fight tough battles.

Christie demonstrates this clearly.

After his touch was worn away by the Heat, he calmed down, no longer obsessed with shooting, and instead focused on defense.

Because Wilson said to him: "Your touch often disappears, but defense is the only skill that does not depend on feel. It is trustworthy."

At this time, the importance of Wilson's priceless intangible assets became apparent.

First of all, Wilson himself is a person who can ignore offense for the sake of defense. Whenever and wherever he falls on the defensive end, he always takes the lead and leads his teammates to put pressure.

This gives a clear signal to all players who come to the Knicks: In the Knicks, defense is more important than offense.

If you perform well offensively, you may not get a chance to play. If you perform well defensively, the coaching staff will definitely reuse him.

If a superstar like Wilson can do this, others will be inspired.

This is one of Wilson's most special strengths.

Christie proved that he is not a typical rookie with his maturity and stability but lack of strong defensive performance.

A typical rookie player always focuses on offense when performing on the spot.

If the offensive end goes well, everything will go well.

Christie has proven he is a player who can be used now.

Seizing the opportunity, Louis once again tested Wang Mukong's immediate combat ability in this game.

Due to the fierce competition within the Knicks, Wang Mukong spent most of his rookie season playing in the Development League.

Stegenga, a second-round pick in the same class as Wang Mukong, has become Louis' first failure in draft history.

Because even in the G League, he doesn't look special.

Wang Mukong did not embarrass Louis.

As the 27th pick (the last pick) in the second round, he averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game in the Development League, shooting 48% from the field, including 35% from three-point range.

With this data, Wang Mukong was selected to the Development League All-Pro Second Team.

Tonight, Louis gave him enough playing time.

Wang Mukong played 18 minutes.

You know, it's not garbage time when they play.

If Louis dares to train in the Eastern Conference finals, Donovan will naturally make him pay the price.

With Wang Mukong on the court, the Knicks lost by 12 points.

Louis got the results he wanted.

Although Wang Mukong has a miserable plus-minus, judging from his on-the-spot performance, he is already a useful substitute. His mid-range catching and shooting ability has tactical development value, and his three-point shooting has great potential for improvement.

He can definitely use Miller as a template to develop.

As for this game, the Knicks almost lost.

The hole dug by the rookies was filled by Wilson and Miller.

On the one hand, Wilson defeated Reggie Lewis, and on the other hand, he helped to lock down Petrovic.

Miller is less reasonable.

He entered into a state of harmony between man and nature tonight.

The feeling of shooting was so good that even if he used his lower body to push the ball towards the basket in the midfield position, Louis dared to bet on Ewing's sexual ability that the ball would definitely go in, otherwise Ewing would be impotent.

From the 2nd minute to the 7th minute of the fourth quarter, Miller scored 22 points in a row, 39 points in the game, and 8 three-pointers in a single game, tying the playoff single record set by Dale Ellis in 1988.

A franchise record for three-pointers made in a game.

It is precisely because of his three-pointers that the Heat can't look after each other, guarding this and missing that, and the entire defense is in shreds.

3 to 1

The Knicks pushed the Heat to the brink.

Donovan still believes they will win, and he has a reasonable basis: "In 1988, when the Knicks trailed the Celtics 1-3, no one believed they could win three games in a row to end the Green Dynasty. Just like today,

No one believes in us, everyone just wants to watch the third game of the finals between the Knicks and Trail Blazers, but I want to say that we will not let this highly anticipated matchup become a reality."

Current fans may need to do a little flashback to remember how the Knicks defeated the Celtics.

The Knicks' method was to use rough physical confrontation to aggravate Bird's back injury, which would then affect the overall situation through Bird's back injury.

The most important thing is Bird's back injury.

That Celtics team is obviously above the Knicks in terms of strength.

If Bird is healthy, the Knicks have basically no chance of winning.

But this is just like the fall of the Warriors in 2019.

Do you still remember that the anti-fans used Curry’s famous quotes to annoy Yongmi for a whole year that summer?

Injuries are also part of the game.

Everyone knows that as long as the Warriors are healthy, the Menglong is useless, but the Warriors are just not healthy.

The same principle applies to the Celtics.

As long as they are healthy, there will be no dead ends for the Celtics to win five consecutive championships. They can continue to win into the 1990s, but they are not healthy.

This kind of thing makes no sense.

If Donovan wants to achieve a big comeback when the Heat's hard power is far inferior to that of the Knicks, he can only expect injuries to his opponents.

But Ewing is as strong as an orangutan, and although Wilson has suffered minor injuries in recent years, he has never had a major injury. In addition, Louis' long rotation can avoid the occurrence of fatigue injuries to the greatest extent.

The hopes of the Miamians seemed destined to be dashed.

At the same time in the West, the Blazers, who were in great shape, used the autumn wind to sweep away the leaves, sending the Clippers home 4-0.

In Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, Drexler was completely lost. Although he played 36 minutes, his statistics were dismal. He made 3 of 18 shots and only scored 9 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Thanks to Drexler, although Olajuwon also performed at the level of a war criminal (18 points and 8 rebounds), he was ignored by the fans and the media.

The Clippers were bombarded in public opinion by the Los Angeles media.

"Now, I would like to invite the heir to the glorious Lakers bet, the Clippers and their representative, Mr. Hakeem 'Nobody Cares Juwon' to speak. Mr. Nobody Cares stood in front of the stage and said nothing, not because he

Reticent, but because his teeth were broken by Portlanders, so he stood in front of us like a dull piece of wood without saying a word."

On the other hand, Jordan, who defeated the Clippers, won another Western Conference championship, and advanced to the finals for the third time in his career, had a deeper emotion: "Over the years, I have listened to all kinds of discussions. Some people say that I am not as good as Jordan.

Wen, not as good as Larry, not even as good as Benj, I will not refute, they all have something that I have never had a world championship. But from now on, the gap will be narrowed, I will win the championship starting from this year, we have the strength to cover all the way to

Every championship before the 21st century, I know we are ready!"

Louis believes that Jordan in this generation will never choose to retire midway again.

His desire to win the championship is unprecedentedly fervent, and his desire for victory exceeds everything else. Moreover, with the Celtics who have won four consecutive championships and the Knicks who have won five consecutive championships in front of him, can he be willing to retire without winning six consecutive championships?

But then again, can Louis watch Jordan win six consecutive championships under his nose?

That is of course impossible. Jordan's so-called "we have the strength to win every championship until the arrival of the 21st century" is nonsense. Should he be considered dead?

So before eliminating the Heat, Louis also took the time to respond to Mr. Jordan's best wishes: "For a person who has never won a championship in the NBA, Michael's statement is not only crazy, but also ignorant. He does not know what it takes to win a championship.

, so he would speak arrogantly."

Later, a reporter relayed Louis' words to Jordan. The Flyers said "I knew it a long time ago" and accepted Louis' criticism: "Coach Lu is right, I am indeed too arrogant."

Anyone who is familiar with his character knows that in his heart, he may have forgotten Louis.

If you want to ask Louis how it feels to provoke the most unprovoked person in the league, then he only has one sentence: "It's so cool to serve chicken chop!"