On May 22, the Suns arrived in Houston and entered the rhythm of the Western Conference Finals.
Wang Tiejun's agent, Lance Hoxman, also came to Houston. He still has some contracts in hand, but they have not yet been finalized.
This time I came here specifically to cheer for Lao Wang. They made an appointment to have dinner at a restaurant, and Lao Wang treated them.
"Lance, help me find two trainers. They need to be top-notch. I will bring them back to China during the offseason," he said.
"Old K, I have already said that you really need to form a professional team. Sparring partners, trainers, nutritionists, and security guards must all be equipped. Don't worry, leave this matter to me, and I will find the best solution for you.
Okay." Hoxman asked.
"This offseason I want to improve my defense, individual defense, assist defense, and rebounding. As a trainer, you need to find someone based on this requirement," he said.
"Do you want to continue to gain weight without a strength trainer? Or will Mr. Zhang help you?" Hoxman asked.
In fact, he has never understood how Wang Tiejun completed weight-gaining training by himself. As far as he knew, Wang Tiejun did not hire a professional strength trainer. However, Wang Tiejun's weight-gaining effect was very good, so he didn't quite understand.
"He is also helping me. He knows this aspect of training. And I know a little bit about it myself, so I don't really need a strength trainer. You can also see the effect. My weight gain effect is the best." He said.
Hawksman nodded, Lao K’s weight gain effect is indeed the best.
As far as he knew, after Jordan was defeated by the Pistons in the playoffs for three consecutive years, he gained weight and gained 97.5 kilograms. Then his athletic qualities such as jumping and movement speed declined to a certain extent.
And when Lao K gained weight from 120 kilograms to the current 126 kilograms, his similar athletic qualities not only did not decrease, but also improved, and some of them improved greatly, which shows that he did a good job in strength training.
"Then you can become a strength trainer after you retire." He joked.
Lao Wang laughed and said, "By the way, Lance, have you finished what I asked you to do for me?"
"That city video? It's been done. I've put it in the hotel and will give it to you later." Hawksman nodded.
"Thank you." Lao Wang smiled.
Back at the hotel, he got the video data.
He read it first. The content was very rich and lasted for more than five hours. It took him more than an hour to finish it by fast forwarding.
These are some street scenes of the two big cities of Los Angeles and New York. From day to night, shootings, racial discrimination, addiction, safety in rich areas, chaos in slums, free and undisciplined schools under the so-called happy education, strict requirements
High-quality elite private schools, low-level public hospitals, efficient but very expensive private hospitals, and some street interviews are very rich in content, both good and bad, and can reflect the true American style.
Look.
He even had people go to Manhattan's Chinatown to take pictures of the sewer where he slept for five months. It was that experience that made him realize that America is definitely not a paradise for the poor.
No. 23, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Compaq Center was opened in 1975 and is now 19 years old. It is already very old and far inferior to the Timberwolves Target Center.
There are only more than 16,000 seats, only 20 private rooms, and no dedicated club seats.
The locker room is also very small and shabby. The owner of the gym has not renovated it for at least five years.
The Suns entered the visiting team's locker room.
The Suns did not meet the Mosaics in the playoffs last year, and this is the first time he has played this team in the playoffs.
He dug at his name on the wardrobe and found that it was a band-aid. Damn, how stingy is this? Is it expensive to make a plastic name tag?
He couldn't help complaining to his teammates: "Look, the Mosaic team gave each of us a Band-Aid. Are they afraid that we won't have money to buy this thing?"
"It's so ugly!"
"Too stingy!"
"One of the worst arenas in the league."
Suns players complained one after another.
At eight o'clock, the two teams announced their starting lineups.
Suns: Wang Tiejun, AC Green, Horry, Dan Malley, Kevin Johnson
Mosaic: Olajuwon, Eric Riley, Barkley, Vernon Maxwell, Kenny Smith
The Western Conference Finals will be broadcast live across the United States by ABC TV, and will be broadcast live on CCTV. Dozens of TV stations around the world have purchased satellite broadcast signals for the Western Conference Finals.
ABC's commentator is Bill Walton, and his partner John Hanks.
Bill Walton took the starting lineups of the two teams and analyzed: "Their starting lineups are all regular season main lineups and have not changed. This shows that both of them firmly believe that they can defeat their opponents with such main lineups."
John Hanks laughed: "But maybe, they don't have a more suitable starting lineup than this, so whether they have the confidence to win the opponent does not have much to do with this lineup."
"Ha ha……"
Bill Walton laughed, and then said: "I have to admit, John, what you said makes sense. So now, John, who do you think has a better chance of reaching the finals?"
When it comes to this issue, John Hanks stopped joking and said seriously: "The Mosaics still insist on using human shields to defend Old K and let Barkley play small forward. This is a good way for their outside offensive firepower.
Strengthening, this will make their outside offensive ability not weaker than that of the Suns, and even stronger than that of the Suns."
Nodding, Bill Walton said: "But we have also said before that Barkley's position moved outwards, which has advantages, but the disadvantages are greater. They reduce the quality of offense and defense in the low post."
John Hanks said: "But actually, Mosaic won three of the four regular season games."
Bill Walton was startled and couldn't help but nodded.
At this time in the CCTV live broadcast booth, Zhang Liji said: "Today's tactics are very important. The Suns' lineup is not as good as their opponents, and they can only regain their disadvantage tactically.
Comparing the lineups of the two coaching staffs, Tomjanovich is in his third coaching season, and Westphal is in his second. In terms of results, the latter is better, last season's championship and best
Coach, but the former’s coaching ability cannot be underestimated.”
"Director Zhang, don't you think highly of the Suns?" Su Qun said in surprise.
Zhang Lijia shook his head solemnly and said: "It doesn't matter whether I'm optimistic about it or not. What's important is that if the Suns want to win the game, all aspects need to cooperate well, but through analysis and comparison, they have very few advantages."
In the capital, the basketball court at the Tiejun Training Hall was still full of people.
Yu Feihong and a group of people from Nortel, many of whom were not filming or attending classes, came over to join in the fun.
What they like most now is this place. The weather is getting hotter. The swimming pool here is the most attractive place for them. They don't have to spend money and no one wants to compete with them. They can't wait to come every day.
There are also some relatives of Wang Tiejun and people in the village with whom he has good connections.
These people were arranged to come to Fengshen Street to work. There were more than a dozen of them, all young people. Basically, they all worked outside before and stayed during the Chinese New Year. Liu Changfeng's two younger brothers were also among them.
This group of people have two things in common. First, they have all practiced martial arts. They have been practicing martial arts longer than Wang Tiejun. Wang Tiejun has not practiced much since he entered junior high school. This group of people has been practicing.
The second similarity is that they are very poor. The more they practice martial arts, the poorer they become. All the money they have is wasted on practicing martial arts. The poor are poor in culture and rich in martial arts, and they have to spend a lot of money just to buy medicine.
Today, Wang Aiguo and Liu Damei specially asked them to come over to watch their son's game, so they could cheer for their son from across the ocean.
Da Ya and Er Ya are not here, but Er Ya is still in Xi'an. Da Ya is devoted to her studies and rarely comes back. In fact, it is Yu Feihong who comes here more often, and he comes here when he has time.
"Less, what does Brother Zhang mean that the Tiejun can't win?" Wang Aiguo listened to Zhang Lili's ramblings for a long time, but he didn't understand what he heard, so he asked.
Yu Feihong smiled and said: "Uncle Wang, the strength of the Suns this year is indeed a bit worse, but it does not necessarily mean that they cannot win."
"oh."
Wang Aiguo nodded in understanding and stopped asking. He was just watching the excitement.
…
In Chicago, Jordan also sat in front of the TV in his luxurious villa.
Similarly, Phil Jackson, Jerry Krause and others also sat in front of their TV sets and tuned the channel to the ABC TV Sports Channel.
The Eastern Conference Finals begins tomorrow, but what the Bulls are most concerned about is not their Eastern Conference opponent, the Knicks, but the two teams in the Western Conference Finals.
Like them, the Knicks players and coaching staff at this time also turned on their TVs to watch Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
…
Compaq Center Arena, 8:10, starting game.
"Hey, Charles, be careful tonight, don't get too close to me, I'm afraid of hurting you." Lao Wang shouted as soon as we met in the player tunnel.
Buckley said angrily: "You are so cruel, you hurt me last time and I had to recover from the injury for half a month."
Lao Wang laughed and said: "Then you have to be more careful this time. If you are injured for another half month, we will directly enter the finals."
"Humph, dreaming!" Dameng said unhappily.
"Coward Meng, why are you humming?" Lao Wang glanced sideways at Dameng, and what he said almost ignited Dameng's temper.
Dameng is definitely not a good-tempered person. He is the one with the worst temper among the three super centers. He is an old hooligan like Jordan.
But after hearing Lao Wang's words, his fists started to bleed, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.
"I've been playing for ten years and haven't even won an MVP. It's me who retired long ago." Lao Wang said again.
"Boy, are you looking for trouble?"
Dameng's scalp was about to be broken by blood, his face was blood red, he took a step forward and roared.
"Hey, calm down, calm down, calm down!" Buckley quickly acted as a peacemaker, standing between the two of them and pushing them away.
"Charles, don't block him, let him come over." Lao Wang shouted.
"Get out of the way, Charles." Dameng said angrily.
"Besides, I really gave way?" Buckley asked angrily.
He also doesn’t have a good temper. His temper is even worse than that of Dameng. He hits people a lot in competitions. Otherwise, how else can he be called a villain? He is actually not good at being a peacemaker. Fighting is actually what he is.
Best at.
Lao Wang laughed. He didn't really want to fight. The game was about to start. He just said a few trash words to stimulate Da Meng. Maybe it could affect this guy's state.
Dameng stopped talking. The postman's strong body was almost crippled by the bastard Old K. How could he go up and beat him?
At this time, the visiting team came on stage and received crazy boos from the home fans.
With the addition of Barkley, this year is the year when the Mosaic team has the best chance of winning the championship, so the home fans hate all opponents who prevent the team from winning the championship.
Their boos were overwhelming and turbulent, which immediately caused great psychological pressure on the away team. Under this great pressure, it is conceivable that the visiting team players will not perform well, and this is the so-called home court.
Advantages.
After appearing on the stage in the face of boos like a tsunami, Wang Tiejun looked around and felt the huge physical pressure. It would be a lie in his heart to say that there was no pressure at all.
He looked at his teammates. Fortunately, everyone was holding on. After all, they were not new to the world. They were the defending team. They had played in the finals at the Bulls' home court, the most terrifying home of this era. It was nothing here.
, still a long way from the United Center atmosphere.
He repeatedly raised his hand to signal his teammates to come over. Everyone gathered around, with their heads in the middle, and he shouted loudly: "Brothers, the louder the opponent's boos are, it shows how powerful we are. We have to kill them next, kill them
Only then can we show our strength. Listen up, let’s work together to eliminate the mosaic and let’s advance to the finals!”
"Kill Mosaic and we will advance to the finals!"
All the Suns players shouted in unison.
"Shh!"
Even louder boos sounded, squeezing towards the Suns. The home fans seemed to want to use this method to defeat their opponents.
Then the home team came out, and when the grand finale came, the cheers were roaring, and the home fans were like welcoming their king.
Lao Wang complained: "I don't know what you are yelling about. You support him so much. How come you lost to David Robinson in the All-Star voting for two consecutive years?"
After the warm-up, both sides returned to the bench and the game was about to begin.
Westphal stood at the front, with several main players and substitutes surrounding him, listening to his tactics.
The Mosaics have always been the Suns' strongest opponent this season. The Bulls, who have been studied the most and may be stronger, are not. Because the Bulls are in the East, and if the Suns want to advance to the finals and meet the Bulls again, they must first deal with the Mosaics.
Therefore, the coaching staff has been studying the tactics of the Western Conference Finals and has already decided on them. Now they are laying out specific tactics.
The overall tactics are based on high-efficiency low-post offense, supplemented by perimeter offense.
At half past eight, the game officially started.
During the jump ball, Wang Tiejun and Dameng stood opposite each other. Both of them were highly focused and ready to take off.
At this time, the ball was thrown high. When it reached the highest point, the two of them jumped almost at the same time, and their big hands moved towards the falling basketball.
In terms of bounce, whether it is bounce height or bullet speed, the monster-level Da Meng is stronger. Although Lao Wang has improved, it is still a little behind.
Dameng jumped at least 80 centimeters, half a head higher than Lao Wang, and took the lead to move the ball away, starting a mosaic attack.
"Hey, Barkley's offensive position is in the low post?" Bill Walton said in surprise.
According to the Suns' arrangement, Wang Tiejun defended Dameng, Green defended Riley, and Horry and Barkley.
According to the game's playing style in the four regular games this season, Barkley was playing small forward and positioned outside, but at this time he ran to the right low post.
Dameng ran to the low post on the left wing, while Elijah, the human shield, landed at the top of the arc.
There is no problem with Dameng's position, but the movement and positioning of Elie and Barkley disrupted the Suns' arrangement.
Robert Horry followed Barkley to the low right wing, and AC Green followed Riley to the top of the key.
"Pick and roll?" Lao Wang was a little confused.
At the top of the arc, Mosaic's point guard Kenny Smith used Riley's huge wall of flesh to break through and burst into the paint area from the top of the arc.
Kevin Johnson was blocked by the wall, and AC Green had to switch to guard Smith, but how could he keep up with the point guard's breakthrough?
Kenny Smith made a very fast swing, his luck changed direction, passed AC Green, and came down from the free throw line.
After this sudden attack, Wang Tiejun and Horry chose to defend to the basket at the same time, and Dameng and Barkley on the left and right low post got opportunities at the same time.
Smith went straight to the basket, compressing Wang Tiejun and Horry. At this time, he made a hidden back pass and gave the ball to Da Meng in the low post on the left wing. By the time Wang Tiejun reacted, it was too late to return to defend Da Meng.
.
"brush!"
From the low post on the left wing, on the left side of the paint area, Dameng made an open jumper with nearly two points and hit a goal.
Zhang Lili immediately analyzed: "Unlike the four regular season games, Barkley returned to the low position on the offensive end, while Riley, the meat shield, took on the task of being a wall. This can be regarded as making the best use of everything."
"Director Zhang, how does the Suns deal with this tactic?" Su Qun asked.
Zhang Lianda said: "This is a high-post pick-and-roll tactic, combined with the ball-holder's breakthrough and distribution tactics. It combines inside and outside, using outside breakthroughs to compress the Suns' defense and create opportunities for Dream and Barkley on the low wings.
"
On the court, the Suns advanced to the frontcourt, Wang Tiejun went straight to the basket, and Riley, the human shield, came up to him and implemented a entwining defense against him.
That is to say, use your hands, feet and elbows together to defend in every possible way. The only purpose is to interfere with his catching the ball and interfere with his shot after catching the ball.
He turned around and blocked Riley, asking for the ball while observing the situation on the field.
Barkley stayed on the left wing on the defensive end. This was his position in the four regular season games. There was no change. He took a step away from Horry and was one step away from the low post on the left wing. He was very close to the paint area. The intention of double-teaming was obvious.
On the right wing, Green moved on the three-point line, and Dameng also took a step forward. Similar to Barkley, the intention of double-teaming was the same.
At the top of the arc, Kenny Smith defended desperately to prevent Kevin Johnson from passing the ball into the basket.
His defense worked, and the ball was not passed for a while. Wang Tiejun had to leave the basket temporarily, and failed to get the ball from the basket for the first time.
As the field commander, Kevin Johnson immediately dribbled back, opened the distance between him and Smith, and then made a tactical gesture.
On both wings, Robert Horry and Green immediately started running. Instead of running in, they moved on the three-point line and made catching movements to attract the defensive attention of Barkley and Damn.
Dan Marley ran to the top of the key and made a pick-and-roll.
At this moment, Wang Tiejun suddenly started from the low position on the left wing, bypassed Riley as a human shield, and cut into the paint along the baseline.
Almost at the same time, with Dan Malley's pick and roll, Kevin Johnson passed the ball in and made a scalpel-like straight ball, which was received by Wang Tiejun who cut into the paint area.
The next moment, Lao Wang's figure suddenly rose.
"Bang!"
With a one-handed dunk, the ball went through the basket.
Barkley tried his best to chase in, but was still half a step behind. The same was true for Da Meng on the weak side on the opposite side, and he failed to catch up.
"Beautiful! With both Dameng and Barkley being pulled out, it is actually very simple for the Tiejun to play Eric Riley in isolation. As long as the ball can be passed in, one hit will be accurate." Zhang Li said with a smile.
"Coach Zhang, this style of playing with all the inside lines open seems to be very novel?" Su Qun asked.
Zhang Liyi nodded and said: "There are indeed relatively few insiders who can pull out, even to the three-point line. This kind of insider can be called a space-type insider. There are indeed very few inside players who can pull out the inside.
But the effect is very good.
This kind of space-based inside line has very high requirements. It can participate in fast breaks, has a long shooting distance, can open up the opponent's space, is good at mobile attacks, has a large defensive area, etc.
This is how the Bulls play this year, with the league's best record and 72 wins. However, this style of play is not yet mature yet, and there are not many tactical changes.
To deal with this style of play, the speed required for the inside line to return to defense will be quite high. If it is too slow, it will be overwhelmed by the opponent's breakthrough."