Louis believes this is a less competitive year in the East.

The reason? The Charlotte Hornets, which expanded into the league last year, reached ninth place in the Eastern Conference with Dale Ellis alone.

They were just one point away from making the playoffs.

The Knicks' semifinal opponent is the Washington Bullets.

This is reminiscent of how the Bullets suppressed the Knicks in the regular season.

Obviously the lineups of the two teams are very different, but every time they play against the Knicks, they are as strong as taking medicine.

Louis doesn't believe in bloodline suppression. Just looking at the lineups of both sides, the Bullets have no chance of winning.

The Bullets rely on Jeff Malone and Bernard King, as well as undrafted players John Starks and Avery Johnson.

As one of only three Malones in NBA history, Jeff Malone's style is very similar to C.J. McCollum. He has a stable offensive output averaging 20 points per game, but he has never been an All-Star player.

King is a superstar in the Knicks. Looking at the offensive end alone, no player in the league, including Bird, dares to say that his offensive firepower is better than him. But after a serious injury, he is only on the verge of an All-Star.

Starks and Junior Johnson are what make the Bullets so difficult.

Louis discovered that picking up rags can really make the team stronger.

Relying on a patchwork and draft-picked lineup, the Bullets reached fourth place in the Eastern Conference, successfully broke through the first round, and met the Knicks in the semifinals.

The Washington media actually imagined that Bloodline's suppressive power would work in the playoffs.

"Sports Illustrated said that the only one who can beat the Knicks is the Knicks themselves. However, the Bullets have already proven that they can compete with the Knicks. Just like their name, the Knicks may be really strong, but in the Bullets

Now, they may not have the same dominance as before."

In terms of this virtue, it cannot be said that they are universally trusted.

People really gain confidence based on their close games in the regular season. Unless the Knicks defeat the Bullets in the playoffs, they really feel that they are on the same level as the Knicks.

Game1

Louis intends to end the myth of bullet restraint against the Knicks.

Just from Knicks' words, we can see that Louis is thinking about it.

Miller came on as a substitute, Wilson played the second position, and Rodman played the third position.

In the matchup, Wilson defended Malone and Rodman defended Kim.

Louis is very clear. Starks and Avery Johnson are both growth-oriented undrafted players. They will play at a higher level in the future. But now they are just good role players.

The winning point for the Bullets lies with Malone and King.

As long as these two people are restrained, the bullet has no chance of winning.

When his attackers were restricted, Unseld, who was known for his selflessness as a player, wanted to use pick-and-rolls to solve the core dilemma.

The Knicks respond to changes by staying the same.

Louis had already planned for the bullet pick-and-roll.

The Knicks' switching defense is top-notch even in the small ball era. If the bullet dares to call a pick-and-roll, they dare to switch defense.

And no matter who switches defense, Malone and King will encounter top-notch defenders.

Stockton, McHale, Ewing, none of them are defensive.

If they get tired, there are Hornacek, Marley, and Stevens waiting to step up.

The core of the Bullets was restricted, but they did not surrender on the spot because most of their players have the ability to hold the ball. Although the cooperation may not be exquisite, the flow is better in terms of perception. The weak side can always see screens and runs. Nick

The strength of Sri Lanka's defense was fully reflected in this game.

Without giving any chance, we blocked all the gaps where problems might arise.

Fight after fight, the Knicks' inside line once again became an advantage.

There is no team ball game better understood than basketball.

Once there is a stalemate on the court, the team will habitually pass the ball to the point where it has an absolute advantage.

Facing most teams, Ewing has an advantage.

Since this year, his offensive role has greatly increased, and Louis will often use his offense to destroy the opponent's defense.

Ewing gave the Knicks an inside advantage.

Louis then launched a second round of offensive targeting the bullet's weaknesses.

The Knicks have no absolute defensive weakness on the court, but the Bullets do.

If nothing else, the two defenders on the field are the colanders in their respective positions.

Darrell Walker (PG) is a player who is overrated for his steals and defense. He likes to gamble and steal. His pressing defense was very powerful in his peak period, but as he gets older, his power decreases day by day.

Avery Johnson, as you can tell by his height, was not selected for no reason.

A player of this height, no matter how good his physical talent is, is still a loophole.

Jeff Malone, a 6-foot-4 (193CM) shooting guard, has a hard time not becoming a defensive vulnerability.

In this case, the Knicks made their offensive strategy clear.

No matter who is facing Avery Johnson, give him the ball first for isolations;

Followed by Jeff Malone, and finally Darrell Walker.

Louis is different from other coaches. As long as a move is effective, he will continue to use it until the opponent breaks it or his own players are beaten until they vomit (then someone else will play).

This kind of results-only theory reduces the enjoyment of the game to a certain extent, but it can definitely beat the opponent to the point where they are unable to cope with the situation and the ground is ineffective.

The Bullets clearly knew this was a flaw on the defensive end, but they couldn't replace it.

They don't have anyone better to take care of the ball.

In order to prevent these two players from being singled out, Unseld had no choice but to have the players double-team.

But as soon as they double-teamed, the Knicks' ball carrier passed the ball directly, and then it was a basic open shooting talent show.

Louis grasped the lifeblood of the Bullets and used simple arrangements and targets to make the Bullets play an extremely heated game.

1 to 0

"We will not accept such a failure." Unseld said firmly, "Next, we will find a way."

Unseld would never have imagined that Louis would use the exact same formula to beat him four times in a row.

And there was really nothing he could do.

The Knicks' lineup was already overwhelming, and they exploited the bullet's weaknesses without giving any chance.

The Bullets' collapse is like a reminder to the Knicks' opponents not to expose their weaknesses to the other side, otherwise, their coach will bite him like a mad dog.

In another sweep, the Knicks sent the Bullets out of the playoffs by an average of 18 points per game.

Now they need to wait for the result of the match between the Pistons and Celtics.

Sampson injured his groin in the regular season, and the Celtics let him rest until the playoffs and only returned after confirming that he was fine.

Sampson, who had fully recovered, destroyed the Hawks on his own in the first round, and in the second round against the Pistons with Parish and Mahomes, he had another dominant performance in every game.

However, the injury problems that plagued the Celtics came to visit again.

Isiah Thomas, who was struggling, was injured again in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Pistons won Tianwangshan and led the Celtics 3-2.

After the game, the Celtics announced Thomas was out for the season.

Only one member of the Big Three is left, but Sampson said: "The series is not over yet, I will lead the team to the Eastern Conference Finals."

How do injuries plague the Celtics?

Bird, Thomas, Jim Peterson, and Harper are all out due to injuries.

Laimbeer has a foot injury, John Long is injured in both legs, Sampson is coming off a groin injury, and highly anticipated rookie Reggie Lewis is the healthiest one.

In other words, of the first eight players in their entire lineup, four are reimbursed, two are injured, and one has just returned.

Opposite them, the Pistons are unstoppable, Dumars and Worthy are at their peak, Parish is still an All-Star level insider, plus Aguirre, who has a quasi-All-Star level, and a bunch of tough role players, such as Ma

Hong, Ilo, Kenny Dulin

No matter how you look at it, this Celtics should be destroyed by injuries like the Lakers in the first round of 2021.

Even Louis, who was originally looking forward to meeting the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, didn't think they could win.

In terms of hard power, Sampson may be the best player in the league at this stage, but can one person beat the Pistons with four All-Stars and all members healthy?

No matter how much Louis believed in Sampson, it was too difficult.

Therefore, they didn't even watch the live broadcast of Game 6.

On the game night of Game 6 in the semifinals, Louis invited several players to dinner, and they discussed various gossips about the Central Park massacre at the dinner table.

Wilson's mouth was like a machine gun, spraying the New York police officers endlessly.

"Let me put it bluntly, those five children must have been wrongly accused. Their confessions are inconsistent!"
To be continued...