the rest, only noise

Chapter 1101 I'm Only Worried That They Can't Come Here

In the 1994-95 season, the Lakers ended the regular season with a record of 58 wins and 24 losses.

This record ranks third in the fiercely competitive West, second only to the 60-win Clippers and 65-win Trail Blazers.

The fans were not dissatisfied. At the beginning of the season, they were even mentally prepared to succeed as long as they got 50 wins.

Zhao Yuanzheng is indeed too tender.

He exposed several problems, such as slow response, rigid tactics, and six-person rotations to suppress others with strength.

However, the atmosphere in the Lakers team is good, which is his advantage.

Compared with other famous coaches, his professional quality is a little worse, but it can improve the atmosphere in the locker room, which is also a manifestation of his ability.

Wilson's charisma also made Pippen put away the idea of ​​fighting for the boss.

The Lakers survived the internal crisis steadily and made great strides into the playoffs.

In the first round, the Lakers faced the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets started rebuilding after firing Doug Moe, and within a few years they had players like Grant Long and Tom Gugliotta, but it wasn't enough to make the playoffs.

So last summer, they first drafted Jason Kidd, who could immediately bring changes to the team, and then signed Robert Parish at a high price.

These two signings put them on the right track.

Kidd's statistics are bright but not conspicuous, averaging 10 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists per game.

If you add 10 points to his scoring, then even Glenn Robinson can't shake his ROY (Rookie of the Year), but then it's not Kidd.

What makes Kidd great is that his personal data is not outstanding, but he can bring real changes to the team.

Players whose data does not reflect their role will be called ball blind evaluators in the future.

That being said, the Nuggets' threat to the Lakers is limited.

Game1 is Wilson's shooting performance.

Louie sat courtside and played a game with Wilson.

"Benj, can you hold the ball for less than a minute and score 1 points?"

This means that Wilson needs to run a lot to complete the catch and shoot.

"Is there any reward?"

"If you do it, I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow."

For Louie's meal, Wilson was possessed by an angel.

This night, he gave up the ball entirely.

Through smart movement and reasonable use of screens, he made 25 of 16 shots and scored 36 points without getting a free throw and only 58 seconds.

The Nuggets were shot.

Louis' mood is relieved, if he is the captain of the ship that is going to arrive in Zihuatanejo, Benj will be his first mate⑴.

Jerry West also gave Wilson high marks.

"Benj's game often gives me a creepy feeling." West said in amazement, "He always does the right thing and can't find any faults."

Of course, don't look at who brought him out?

Louis raised his eyebrows complacently, but West didn't notice him.

Game 2 is the only game the Nuggets have a chance of winning.

Kidd played perfectly, usually less than 30% of the three-pointers, shot 40% tonight, at the same time, his breakthrough layup and post-up singles played very well, the tragic statistics of 27 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in the game, but it is much worse in front of David Robinson who is descended from the gods.

Tonight, Robinson is the god of war, with a good mid-range shot, attacking Denver's inside line with the ball on the wing, scoring 45 points and 16 rebounds unstoppably, helping the Lakers grasp the match point.

The Nuggets, whose morale had been shattered, had no power to parry at home and were directly won by the Lakers' smooth offense.

3 is better than 0
The Lakers advanced to the semifinals, where they faced the second-ranked Clippers in the West.

The Clippers' ability to win 60 games has exceeded many people's expectations.

Even if the Miami Heat in the East won a record-breaking 75 wins, Jeff Van Gundy has a good chance of being elected as the head coach of the year.

Suddenly, the Eastern and Western semifinals turned into a civil war between Louis' coaches.

In the west, Zhao Yuanzheng's Lakers and Van Gundy's Clippers met.

In the East, Tomjanovich's Knicks and Phil Jackson's Magic met.

As for Billy Donovan's team, which can be called the only Heat team, they even rode the dust and went straight to the championship.

In the series between the Lakers and the Clippers, both sides have absolute advantages and absolute weaknesses.

The strength of the Lakers is the pressure created by Wilson and Pippen at the forward position.

The strength of the Clippers is Barkley's destructive power at the fourth position.

AC Green is one of the famous weaknesses of the Lakers, and is now in the heyday of the center, but in fact, the talent reserve at the power forward position is also very rich.

AC will be blown up every three to five times.

It was difficult for him to parry when he met Barkley.

Logically speaking, the combination of Wilson and Pippen should be stronger than Barkley's matchup advantage.

However, the game process did not go in the direction Zhao Yuanzheng expected.

In the first game of the semifinals, Wilson had a poor shooting touch and relied on a breakthrough to score 30 points. Instead, Pippen shot with a touch and scored 27 points, but Robinson failed to break through Mutombo's defense.

On the Clippers side, Sprewell's performance was explosive.

This person is a rare magic ball-style forward and guard swingman in contemporary times, and his offensive range is basically the basket and outside the three-point line.

Moreover, he has the first step that even Pippen and Wilson can hardly react to.

Dale Ellis couldn't guard him at all.

The effect of this domino is that even the other flanks of the Clippers also fired.

A couple of key points from Robert Horry in the fourth quarter stifled the Lakers' momentum on the counterattack.

Chinese player Du Shuai has also made his mark. He is the only reliable singles player on the Clippers' bench.

The Clippers defended the home court with a better performance, leading 1-0 with a big score.

"I don't see any chance of winning!" West was furious, "How is this game played?"

His roar resounded through the forum offices.

Then Wilson showed him the odds.

In the second game, Zhao Yuanzheng allowed Wilson to control the ball and dominate the team's offense.

Wilson kept blasting the Clippers defense with the ball, compressing the opponent's defense, and then passed the ball out to Ellis.

The never-relenting assassin hit seven three-pointers in a single game, coupled with Wilson's dazzling 38 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists, the Lakers beat the Clippers "away" and took away the opponent's home court advantage.

Fortunately, they don't have to fly home, which is the benefit of the same city derby.

In fact, the Clippers have no advantage at all at home.

Even at their game arena—the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum⑵—more than half of the audience is Lakers fans.

Their screams could easily drown out Clippers supporters.

In other words, the Lakers actually have seven home court advantages in this round of the series.

Then, in Game [-] of the series, Robinson stepped up, but Mutombo's defense remained overshadowed.

Wilson still had an excellent shooting touch, but Pippen was frustrated by Sprewell's defense and could hardly score in positional battles.

Barkley went on a killing spree, and he turned the game into a real point shootout.

But while the two sides soared points, the presence of Mutombo made the Lakers' shooting rate at the basket less than 40%.

118 is better than 112
The Clippers won the game and took the lead again by a big score.

Louis decided from the beginning that as long as Zhao Yuanzheng didn't ask him for help, he would just watch.

But West couldn't stand it, and he came to Louis for a review the day after he lost.

"Jerry, what are you worried about?" Louis smiled, "Coach Zhao will find a solution."

West sneered with disbelief: "His method is to shorten the rotation!"

The result was really hit by West.

Game4
Zhao Yuanzheng adjusted the rotation from 8 people to 6 people. He must ensure that the team can maintain high-intensity offensive and defensive pressure throughout the game.

"Coach Zhao is the least like Leader Lu among all the coaches who have worked in the Blue Palace."

This is Hubie Brown's evaluation of Zhao Yuanzheng.

The Louis coaches all like long rotations, like Van Gundy is considered relatively conservative, but he also insisted on playing eight-man rotations in the Clippers.

Zhao Yuanzheng's seven-person rotation and six-person rotation at every turn, in the eyes of the outside world, is an expression of eagerness for quick success.

The game fell into the hands of the Lakers from the beginning.

Robinson, as the team's anchor, played a very eye-catching performance.

In the past three games, Robinson has also been criticized, mainly because of his aggressiveness.

He can contribute 25+10 per game, but fans expect him to play 35+10 or even 45+10. However, Mutombo's penalty area defense is unparalleled in the world. Although Robinson is an insider who is ahead of the times, he does not have the technology to go beyond the times.

Zhao Yuanzheng's strategy still worked.

All five starters played more than 40 minutes, and the Clippers obviously failed to keep up with such intensity.

107 is better than 102
The Lakers narrowly beat the Clippers at the Forum Arena, tying the score 2-2.

On the same night, the Heat in the Eastern Conference blasted the Hornets 130 to 98, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals with unstoppable momentum.

A reporter from NBC asked Donovan if he was worried about the Knicks, whose status has soared recently.

Donovan replied: "I'm just worried that they won't be here (Eastern Finals)."

([-]) Chief Mate: Refers to the ship's pilot whose position is only lower than the captain's.

⑵ Don't ask me "Isn't the Memorial Coliseum home to the Trail Blazers?" This lovely question.

(End of this chapter)