At this time, the Suns advanced to the frontcourt. As soon as they passed the midline, Kevin Johnson immediately felt that the defensive pressure increased by two levels.
"Half-court press."
He took a deep breath, put his left elbow in front of him, and carefully advanced forward while observing the positions of his teammates.
At this time, Lao Wang came to the basket, looked at Kevin Johnson who was near the top of the key, and suddenly ran to the left wing low post.
"squeak!"
At this time, Kevin Johnson suddenly made a breakthrough movement with the ball to the right. After forcing Jordan to take half a step back, he immediately turned around and passed the ball to the low left wing.
"pretty!"
Seeing this move of pretending to be true, Zhang Lili praised.
"Crack!"
Lao Wang caught the ball with his right hand, and Clifford Robinson inside followed him out.
"Bang!"
Dribbling the ball once with his right hand, his left foot suddenly moved inward at the same time. When the defender came up, Tieshan exploded with a hit.
"Bang!"
Clifford Robinson groaned, and his 111-kilogram body flew backwards, hitting the floor with a bang.
"oh!"
There was a huge exclamation in the United Center.
"Bang!"
The next moment, Wang stepped into the paint and hit the Bulls' basket with a flying dunk.
"Beautiful! As long as the ball can be passed in, the Bulls can't stop the Tiejun even if they double-team." Zhang Lili shouted excitedly.
"Ahem..."
Clifford Robinson coughed non-stop. He was obviously choked by the impact. His chest felt like he had been hit by a car. The numbness made him frightened.
Lao K's attack just now was too fast, and he didn't react. At that time, he was still moving forward, and the reaction force was not small.
"Kerry, are you okay?"
Jordan ran over and did not pull his teammates up immediately.
"Fortunately, it should be fine."
Clifford Robinson's cough improved a little, his face flushed, and he stood up with Jordan's help.
In the ABC live broadcast, Bill Walton said: "If Kevin Johnson can still have the 92/93 season, or even the state of last season, this Suns team will probably reach the finals and destroy the Bulls.
Unfortunately, Kevin Johnson is not Jordan. The several months of offseason have caused him to decline too much. Although he just completed a very good pass, the defense of Jordan and Pippen cannot allow him to pass the ball every time.
Such a good shot.”
"He is actually not very old. He has lost so much form in one offseason and has no major injuries. This means that his mentality has changed and he has lost his pursuit of the championship."
After some analysis, John Hanks added: "The Bulls started the game by pressing the defense in the half court, not only to suppress the No. 1 position, but also to cut off the Suns' internal and external connections.
Old K's ability to support, distribute and assist in the low post is very good. Once he gets the ball, whether he plays by himself or assists his teammates, he is a great threat. Simply suppressing the No. 1 position cannot completely destroy the Suns.
The team's organizational ability was limited, so the Bulls adopted this half-court pressing method to prevent the ball from passing into Old K's hands. This not only suppressed the No. 1 position, but also prevented Old K's organizational ability from being used."
"It depends on Jordan and Pippen, especially how long Jordan's physical fitness can last. However, although Kevin Johnson is three years younger, his physical fitness is not as good as Jordan's. Under this kind of oppressive defense, his
Physical fitness may collapse." Bill Walton laughed.
"A top player pays more attention to overall quality, of which physical fitness is an indispensable talent. Jordan's physical talent is obviously stronger than Kevin Johnson." John Hanks laughed.
At this time, the Bulls advanced to the frontcourt.
Clifford Robinson pulled outside the three-point line on the left wing, and Wang Tiejun followed, leaving his opponent two meters away, almost two meters away from the left waist of the paint area.
Toni Kukoc moved outside the three-point line on the right wing, and AC Green did the same by two meters.
Pippen also moved on the left three-point line, Jordan moved on the right three-point line, and point guard B.J. Armstrong controlled the ball at the top of the key.
Zhang Lili said in an anxious tone: "All five Bulls can shoot three-pointers, and their spacing ability is the best in the league. The Suns' penalty area was completely empty.
At the same time, these five people can not only pass the ball, but also have strong organizational skills. They can also break through and cut in. They are all very fast. No one can be let go. This lineup is really strong, not weaker than last season.
of bulls.”
"If you can pass, break, and shoot, how can you fight?" Su Qun said anxiously.
At this time, Pippen and Clifford Robinson set up a pick-and-roll at 50 degrees from the three-point line, suddenly changed direction and cut in, received a pass from the top of the arc, and then charged towards Lao Wang with the ball.
Although Lao Wang was two meters clear and had plenty of room to retreat, Pippen suddenly changed direction and cleanly passed him, straight into the paint.
He quickly turned around and chased after him, but with his speed of 77, he couldn't keep up with a top small forward like Pippen. Pippen's speed was at least 90, or even faster.
"Bang!"
After the dunk, huge cheers and applause erupted in the United Center.
Su Qun sighed: "Inside spread tactics, outside pick-and-roll tactics, breakout tactics, has Zen Master completely abandoned the triangle offense?"
Zhang Lijia shook his head and said: "Xiaosu, you are wrong. The Bulls' basic offensive structure is still the triangle offense. For example, in this offense, Pippen and Clifford Robinson immediately changed to cut inside after the pick-and-roll.
It forms a triangle with bj at the top of the arc.
Think about it, any of the three corners can shoot or pass from any point, how terrible is it? You have absolutely no chance to double-team them.
This kind of triangle offense on the flanks does not have that kind of large-scale lateral movement, so the turnover rate is also very low."
Su Qun praised: "The Bulls' lineup is indeed too strong!"
"How should I put it? Jerry Krause's team-building ability is indeed very strong."
Zhang Li thought about it for a moment, and then said: "The Bulls' lineup is stronger than the lineup that won the previous two consecutive championships. This time there is a good chance of completing the three consecutive championship dynasty."
"Three consecutive championship dynasties? What about the Suns?" Su Qun exclaimed.
Zhang Lili said with a wry smile: "The Suns also have a very strong lineup. Wang Tiejun, Danny Manning's inside combination is stronger than Toni Kukoc, Clifford Robinson.
Although No. 3 Drexler is old, his offensive ability is now really open, and he is not weaker than Pippen, but his defensive and organizational abilities are not as good as Pippen. Needless to say, the back line
Yes, Jordan can now beat Kevin Johnson.
Where did the Suns lose? In the perimeter defense mentioned earlier, the Bulls could suppress the Suns' No. 1 position, but the Suns could not suppress the Bulls. How could the Suns fight if their engine was strangled to death?
As for the ability of the Bulls' two major inside players, I would say, it is not the most important, because even if the Bulls beat the Suns, looking back, the Suns can also beat the Bulls in the paint. The problem is, between Jordan and LeBron James,
With Peng's defense, can the Suns pass the ball in?"
Su Qun nodded and continued: "It really depends on perimeter defense. This is the key to victory or defeat. The Suns need to find a first-class point guard again."
Zhang Lijia shook his head and said: "How can it be so easy to find first-class stars? And one team cannot accommodate so many stars.
Now the Suns will have to pay the luxury tax, and this is because Wang Tiejun is on a rookie contract. After this season, if he skips the last year of the contract and signs a maximum salary, the Suns' salary will definitely explode.
Trade away some stars with big contracts and replace them with more role players, otherwise you won't be able to stand it.
Generally speaking, a first-tier team will be good if it has two stars, and the rest will have to be matched with regular main players, role players, marginal players, etc."
Su Qun nodded and said with a wry smile: "That's true."
Zhang Lili analyzed: "If the Suns fail to win the championship this season, Kevin Johnson's strength will definitely continue to decline next season, and the strength of several starting veterans may decline. At the same time, Wang Tiejun signs a new contract, and the team trades one or two
star, causing the team's strength to further decline, and the possibility of winning the championship becomes even smaller.
If you want to win the championship again, you have to wait for real reconstruction, and even if you select good young people and wait for them to grow up, it will take at least several years to complete.
Therefore, it is really difficult to build a championship-winning team, and it cannot be built easily.
Think about the Bulls. Jordan is so strong. Didn't he also go through so many years of construction? Take Pippen, for example, he was built by Jordan bit by bit. What can he do if he doesn't have time?"
After the first quarter, at 27:31, the Suns trailed by 4 points on the road.
This was even when Jordan did not attack hard. He only made 2 of 2 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 6 points.
The Bulls shot very evenly, with all five top starters taking shots.
The Suns, under the Bulls' half-court press, had 6 turnovers in a single quarter, while the Bulls had only 3.
Wang Tiejun played the entire first quarter, making 4 of 4 shots and 2 of 2 free throws. He scored 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul.
If it weren't for his great basketball skills, he would have lost more.
The Lightning performed poorly under the joint efforts of Jordan and Pippen and failed to organize an offense well. The old knee injury has recurred in the past few days and there are some problems with their condition.
Bill Walton analyzed at this time: "Old K only got the ball 6 times in the first quarter, which was significantly less than before. The Bulls' strategic purpose of cutting off the Suns' internal and external connections was achieved.
Of his 6 catches, one of his catches was a mistake and he scored 4 times. He also had 1 pass and received 1 assist.
But in addition to these 6 passes, there were actually three outside passes that were not caught, and the mistakes were placed on the outside."
John Hanks continued: "The Bulls' outside line mainly blocks the passing and receiving routes of the Suns' outside line and Old K. You can pass it to others, but you cannot pass it in. If other people get the ball, the offensive efficiency will not be as good as that of Old K. The Suns
The team's overall offensive efficiency dropped as a result.
On the offensive end, the Bulls used spacing tactics to open up the penalty area, and then broke out endlessly, and the offensive efficiency was very high."
Bill Walton said: "The Bulls implemented a half-court pressing tactic in the first quarter, which consumes much less energy than a full-court press. But no matter what, this high-intensity defensive tactic, given Jordan's age,
It's good to be able to maintain it for two quarters, so the Suns still have a chance. Once the Bulls' outside defense weakens, the offense can be strengthened. With the strength of Old K, it's no problem to beat the Bulls inside."
John Hanks said with a smile: "It depends on how big a score advantage the Bulls can get first under the high-intensity perimeter defense. And this is the regular season. It is impossible for the Bulls to really play the defensive intensity of the finals. The Suns do
There is a chance.
Also, Bill, you overlooked one person, Ron Harper is sitting on the Bulls bench."
"..." Bill Walton was stunned.
In the second quarter, the Bulls continued to maintain a high-pressure half-time state. At the end of the half, at 48:58, the Suns were already 10 points behind.
Zhang Lijia sighed: "The Suns made 11 turnovers in the half, the Bulls only had 6, the Suns only had two steals, and the Bulls had 7. How many possessions did they lose from outside today?"
"Old K grabbed 14 rebounds in the first half and was even stronger in the second quarter, otherwise he would have been overwhelmed in the first half," Su Qun said.
Zhang Lili continued: "The Tiejun played 8 minutes in the second quarter and 20 minutes in the first half. They made a total of 8 of 9 shots and 4 of 7 free throws. They scored 20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls.
Data. The efficiency is very high, but he doesn’t take many shots and still can’t catch the ball. Several of his shots are secondary attacks after grabbing the offensive blue ball.”
Su Qun said: "The Bulls' shots are still very average. Pippen played 21 minutes in the half and Jordan played 22 minutes. Obviously they wanted to kill the Suns in the first half. But judging from the situation at halftime, it may not be possible.
.”
Zhang Lili said with a smile: "Today, the Suns are missing two main players and lack a rotation, but the Bulls are also the main players. It seems they really want to win this game.
The defense was too strong in the first half and consumed too much physical energy. It is impossible to maintain such a high defensive intensity in the second half."
"They should be preparing for the possible finals, right? But they didn't pay attention to the basketball issue." Su Qun said.
"That's for sure. There are only two regular season games in total. If we don't prepare at this time, once they all reach the finals, there will be no chance to prepare. The problem with blueball is not that we don't pay attention to it, but that the insiders are too busy in front of the Iron Army.
He is weak and has no ability to resist at all." Zhang Li said with a smile.
At this time, the home team's locker room, although leading, had a general atmosphere.
Jordan was talking to the Zen Master with a serious look on his face.
"Michael, how is your physical condition?" Phil Jackson asked.
"It's okay." Jordan said.
"If you maintain the half-court pressing tactics of the first half, can you still last one quarter?" Phil Jackson asked.
Jordan thought for a while, shook his head and said: "In that case, it will be difficult for me to invest in the offensive end. Once the defense drops in the final quarter and they use their strength inside, we may be in trouble."
Phil Jackson nodded and said: "Today is just an attempt. Next time, we may try to let the main lineup work hard on the defensive end in the first and third quarters, and let the substitutes work hard on the defensive end in the second quarter. Let's strive for
Defeat the Suns in three quarters.
But we can still deal with them today. In the third quarter, you can help defend, regain some physical strength, and let Ron Harper defend the Suns' No. 1 position."
Jordan nodded. He did not expect that the Suns team would not have a full lineup today and the game would still be so difficult. He said, "Phil, if all their main players are here, how should we play?"
Phil Jackson thought about it and said: "Actually, the strength gap between AC Green and Danny Manning is not as big as you think. You must know that the Suns control Manning's shots, and his contribution is about the same as AC Green. And Danmar
Lee, an ordinary main player, the Suns did not suffer much loss without him.
If we can beat the Suns tonight, and if we can beat the Suns with a full lineup, it may be a little more difficult, but it will be within the range we can handle."
Jordan thought about it for a moment, and it made sense, but he knew there was something wrong with Jackson's statement.
The Suns injured two generals, how could they not lose their strength?
However, he did not continue to ask this question. Today, he had some reservations about his offense. Even if the Suns lineup is neat, he can offset this with his own offense.
What he was most concerned about was the basketball, which was a fatal problem. He asked again: "Phil, how to solve the problem of the basketball?"
These words made the Zen master a little embarrassed. Before the game, he had said that the basketball ball would be fine. Unexpectedly, Lao K's basketball ball exploded today.
He said: "This can only be strengthened through trade. The relationship between the Spurs' big bug and David Robinson has not been good, maybe he can get it."
Jordan nodded and said, "I'm going to tell Klaus that it's time for him to do something."
The visiting team's locker room had a normal atmosphere.
Kevin Johnson was a little frustrated. Under the defense of Jordan and Pippen, he made 6 turnovers in the half. As a top point guard, he felt embarrassed.
Lao Wang was also confused. Although tonight's lineup was uneven, it was actually not weak. He didn't expect to lose by 10 points at halftime.
He knew in his heart that if he had not controlled the ball, he would have been defeated in the first half today.
Except for his efficiency, everyone else's offensive efficiency was not enough under the Bulls' perimeter defense.
With the Bulls cutting off the Suns' inside and outside perimeter, Drexler got a lot of opportunities, but under Pippen's defense, he only made 3 of 10 shots and failed to perform at a superstar level.
Head coach Westphal was leaning against the wall behind the door, thinking hard about how to solve these problems.
How to help Kevin Johnson get rid of the Bulls' pressing perimeter defense, how to pass the ball in, etc. Without solving these problems, it is difficult for him to imagine that he can beat the Bulls.
Of course, he didn't expect to win this game. He was thinking about how the team could beat the Bulls when the lineup was complete, and prepare for the next regular season game against the Bulls, as well as the possible finals.
Next to him, assistant coach Lewis and two other members of the coaching staff were also thinking hard and putting forward some ideas of their own.
Fifteen minutes later, the third quarter started.
The Bulls did not have all the main players on the field. Jordan was indeed a physical monster. Even after Pippen went down, he was still on the court. He was two and a half years older than Pippen, but his physical fitness was even better than Pippen's.
Does Pippen's dismissal mean that the Bulls' perimeter defense has weakened? No, because Jerry Krause acquired Ron Harper from the Clippers this season.
Ron Harper, guard, can play from the first guard to the third position, and can also be regarded as a swingman. He averaged 2,054 points per game in five seasons in his career, and he was very defensive, averaging 2,054 points per game in seven seasons.
Steals more than twice.
But even though he was so strong, he didn't even get a chance to be an All-Star substitute in the Eastern Conference.
The No. 1, 2, and 3 All-Star positions in the Eastern Conference, from main players to substitutes, have been occupied all year round by people like Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Pippen, Wilkins, and Joe Dumars. This shows that the Eastern Conference
Over the years, the back line, and even the small forward position, have become very inward.
He was the Clippers' actual leading scorer last season, with 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.9 steals. Although Wilkins and Danny Manning scored more points than him, they didn't play many games.
However, the Clippers were already in the process of rebuilding, and at the same time, he suffered a serious knee injury, his condition plummeted, and he was scooped up by the Bulls.
The Bulls need his perimeter defense to make up for the shortcomings of the bench lineup's perimeter defense, but they don't need his offense. In fact, his current offense is not good enough and is at the level of an ordinary role player.
He took Pippen's place, but Drexler did not play. He faced the Suns' backup small forward veteran Danny Ainge.
But Danny Ainge has no strength anymore, that is, his shots are open, his running is not very active, and he has no threat. He switches defenses with BJ on the defensive end, with him mainly defending Kevin Johnson, and Jordan assisting on the side.
Two of the Suns' guards were sick. Kevin Johnson had no chance to rest tonight. He continued to play in the third quarter, but under the double-teaming of Jordan and Harper, he was already very tired and continued his performance in the first half, making mistakes.
Repeatedly, he couldn't produce his own offense, and he didn't sort out the entire team's offense.
Under such a strong perimeter defense as the Bulls, the Suns with an incomplete lineup lost the game and their winning streak was suspended.
With 13 wins and 1 loss, it failed to tie the Suns' record of 14 consecutive wins, but it still ranked first in the league.
The Bulls have 12 wins and 1 loss, second in the league and first in the Eastern Conference.
"King of empty cuts, we beat you by 13 points, and you failed to rebuild." After the game, a happy Jordan walked up to Lao Wang and teased him with trash talk.
Lao Wang made a total of 14 of 18 shots and 9 of 14 free throws. He scored 37 points and 25 rebounds. His performance was not bad, but he unfortunately became the king of empty shots.
After losing the game, he was a little unhappy and said harshly: "Why are you so anxious? We didn't all come together this time, so you won. I'll teach you a lesson in the next game."
Jordan sneered and said, "I won because of you. You have such a big face."
"Anyway, I'm going to steal your championship and make it impossible for you to win three consecutive championships. Hey, I'm young, but you're old. I'm going to step on you and get to the top. Let's just wait and see." Lao Wang said.
Looking at Lao Wang's leaving figure, Jordan felt itchy with hatred.
He won the game, but he felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart.
Although he did not attack at full strength today, the Suns were also missing several players, and the Bulls only won 13 points. If they met in the finals, could they win?
As soon as he thought about this, he immediately turned around and walked towards General Manager Jerry Krause, that fat guy he hated very much.