June 5, 1993, the eve of the finals.

The Knicks trained as usual, and Louis convened the coaching staff to study and discuss the game plan for Game 1.

To the Knicks, Portland's image is fragmented.

On the one hand, the Trail Blazers' dominance in the first half of the regular season was impressive; on the other hand, after Louis caught their uncorrectable pigtails in the second game, they went up and down.

They all have a stoic look and insist on correcting this.

As a result, they lost consecutive games, not only losing Jordan's MVP, but also losing the home court advantage in the finals.

The Blazers accepted the fact that they had irreparable flaws around the time of the semifinals.

Then, put aside distracting thoughts and focus on amplifying your own advantages.

As a result, the Blazers haven't lost since.

Zhao Yuanzheng stood up and talked about the situation: "Since the playoffs, the Trail Blazers have averaged a field goal percentage of 53%, ranking first; at the same time, it is worth noting that their average turnover rate has reached 15%, also ranking first.

"The offensive rebound rate reached 31%, which is only mid-level, but it is worth noting that since the Western Conference Finals, their offensive rebound rate has reached 35%, which is even higher than ours."

These data clearly outline the style of the Trail Blazers.

The high shooting rate shows that their offensive finishing ability is stable and the players' personal abilities are very strong. The corresponding number of turnovers is the first, which just shows that they are a team that pays attention to passing. At the same time, this also strongly proves that the Blazers are no longer the same as last year.

A team that could be defeated if only one of Jordan or Barkley was shut down.

Then there are some other data.

The free throw rate is 27%, ranking first, and the opponent's field goal percentage is 46.4%, ranking 4th among playoff teams. Considering their obvious deficiencies on the defensive end, this data is very good; the opponent's turnover rate is

15.1%, only 0.3% lower than the Knicks, ranking second; defensive rebound rate 70%, 2% lower than the Knicks, also ranked among the top two in the league; opponent free throw rate 26%, among the teams participating in the playoffs

The highest, which is also the stat that best reflects the Blazers' style of play.

The opponent's free throw rate can directly reflect the strength of the on-the-spot confrontation.

The higher this data is, it means that this team pays more attention to physical confrontation on the defensive end.

At the same time, it also proves that they have "confidence" in their opponents' free throw shooting percentage.

They believe that under the ultra-high physical confrontation, their opponents will not be able to maintain a stable free throw shooting rate.

After Zhao Yuanzheng listed these data, the assistants in the conference room looked solemn.

"They looked invulnerable," Tomjanovich said.

"Compared to us, Portland's offense and defense are more balanced, and there are outstanding talents in every position." Thibodeau prepared for this. "However, even so, we still have obvious advantages in the interior. Although Portland has

Larry Nance and Ardavis Sabonis are two star-level players, but we have more talents in the interior. Patrick, Sean, Dennis, Kevin, Harold (Yu Tiancan), as long as the game enters

During the attrition stage, Portland's inside line will have problems sooner than us."

Compared with last year, the Trail Blazers actually only have one more Sabonis.

Can Sabonis alone change the situation last year when he was ravaged by the Knicks' inside line?

Obviously not.

Even if Sabonis is at his peak here, Ewing is not afraid of him.

Kemp, who has continuously beaten top power forwards since the playoffs, and Rodman, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, are terrifying existences to Nance and Clifford Robinson.

Therefore, the insider advantage theory proposed by Thibodeau is completely correct.

The inside line will be the life and death line of the game. With the Knicks having almost no advantage in the three outside positions, the advantage the inside line can gain will determine the trend of the game.

"Rudy, what do you think?"

As far as Tomjanovich could see, he couldn't see further than Thibodeau.

But as the chief assistant coach who has followed Louis for nearly 10 years, it would be unreasonable to give feedback like "I do the same", so he used reverse thinking to make a hypothesis: "Our inside line does have obvious advantages, but what about the game?"

It's all possible. If our inside line suddenly loses its threat, how can we sustain the game? What should be our bottom-line strategy?"

No one answered the question. It was best to answer the questions you asked yourself, otherwise Louis would scold you.

"Three-pointers." Tomjanovich said novelly, "If I remember correctly, our outside three-pointers are far behind the second place in terms of quantity and quality."

After saying that, he looked to Zhao Yuan for proof.

"That's right." Zhao Yuanzheng nodded and responded.

"The outside line is also our advantage, maybe we can choose to break the situation from here."

Regardless of whether Tomjanovich was trying to deal with Louis or he really believed that three-pointers were a way to break the game, his ideas brought everyone a new direction.

Louis listened silently. No one here knew the pioneers better than him.

Because that Trail Blazers team was modeled after the Knicks.

The Knicks building was slowly built by Louis after years of hard work.

It's like a showdown with my younger self.

Everyone was discussing lively, and the old coach Doug Mo suddenly said: "We should not only see the side that is good for us."

"That's right." Zhao Yuanzheng continued, "MJ is the best player in the league. Charles Barkley has proven last year that he can beat Sean and Dennis, and now Yinsaiah Thomas has been added."

Zhao Yuanzheng looked around and said, "Judging from past combat experience, John (Stockton) will most likely be suppressed by Yin Siya."

Thibodeau also became wary of danger: "At the same time, Portland's 'Verdun Line of Defense' has become quite lethal after a season of training."

The atmosphere of "I have the advantage" disappeared, and the pre-war meeting entered the pessimistic atmosphere of "This is a check-box".

What Lao Mo calls the negative side is not based solely on the player's ability.

"Portland's biggest advantage is that, except for Yin Saiya, no one else has ever succeeded. They gathered for the championship and will sacrifice their own personal interests to win the championship. Compared with them, our players are too proud.

." Lao Mo pointed out in astonishment, "We have won five championships. Even if there is no championship in the future, the current honors are enough to make the players proud enough to retire. But fortunately, I can still see it in the eyes of the players.

They are hungry for championships, but I haven’t seen selflessness from them for a long time. That kind of team atmosphere where everyone is for me and I am for everyone has not appeared in our games for a long time.”

Lao Mo put it tactfully, but the real situation is actually worse.

After five years of competition, the secret war between Wilson and Ewing has entered the stage of open competition.

The shadows that have been hidden under the Knicks' honor for many years have also surfaced one by one this season.

From changing his name to Mohammed Rauf to the subsequent press conference accident;

From Shawn Kemp's contract extension to the current situation where most people are dissatisfied with their contracts;

The "Yintian Garden Incident" was a breaking point, which exposed an unknown side of the Knicks.

Fans saw the ugly other side of the Knicks' star players, and Louis saw the team's imminent collapse.

The bad atmosphere created by these things has always affected the Knicks.

This is also a question that Louis has been reflecting on in recent days.

He wanted to know when he started losing control of these things.

But he didn't answer. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't find any clues that pointed him to the target.

He did make mistakes, but he probably didn't make the fundamental mistakes that brought the Knicks to this point.

So why are the Knicks still like this?

The truth made him fear that the Knicks were destined to become like this.

This is the reason why Louis still believes that his Knicks have not surpassed the Celtics led by K.C Jones.

More difficult than conquering your opponents is conquering your inner demons.

At this time, the Knicks' problems are all on the surface. If they could be solved, Louis would have solved them long ago.

Lao Mo's concern was right, but raising an unsolvable problem would not help them prepare for war.

Louis stopped the meeting.

Let them go away and do their own thing.

After walking out of the conference room, Louis came to the court.

Some players are practicing shooting, such as Miller.

This year, Miller officially surpassed Dale Ellis to become the league's top scorer.

However, to become as famous as Ellis, he still needs to play a series that "Boston won't cry at night" like the opponent did in the 1988 Eastern Conference Finals, before he can have the confidence to claim to be number one.

Otherwise, Ellis will become like James after 2016.

It seems that every season there are a few people who play better than him, but the King is still the King, and the fans also recognize him as number one.

Not convinced? How many champions do you have?

In fact, Ellis was also a worry for Miller.

As one of the Knicks' most stable players, Miller has few die-hard fans.

Everyone likes Wilson, Kemp, and Rodman, but no one likes Miller. Because New Yorkers feel that Miller is not as good as his predecessor.

Dale Ellis' performance in the 1988 playoffs cemented a permanent place for him in New York's pro sports pantheon.
To be continued...