After eating and sitting for a while, the five of them said goodbye and rushed to Salt Lake City to prepare for the real-time broadcast of the g3g4 battle.
Lao Wang then drove to the Suns headquarters and prepared to go to Salt Lake City.
He is not prepared to let Yu Feihong go to Salt Lake City. It is a second-round series and there is no need to go back and forth.
That night, the Bulls defeated the Pacers on the road, but the Magic lost to the Knicks on the road, with a score of 2-1.
However, the Suns did not sleep well. Jazz fans conducted various interferences to help the home team gain some home court advantage.
At ten o'clock, in a low-end private hotel, there was no TV in the room. Zhang Lili and others were huddled at the front desk after watching the game and were about to go to bed when Lao Zhang's pager rang. He borrowed the front desk phone to call.
.
"Hello, Director Zhang?"
"Ma Jian? Is it Xiao Ma?"
"Yes, it's me. Hello, Director Zhang."
"Ouch, you haven't contacted me for a long time."
"That's it, Coach Zhang, I signed up for this year's NBA draft."
"That's a good thing. You've also played in the NCAA for two years. Are you confident?"
"Well, I can't tell you, I don't get much attention. Very few scouts pay attention to me."
"Oh, it won't work if you don't pay attention. Normally, team drafts will only be based on scouting reports. The scouts will even have to track you for several years, and there will be hundreds of pages of information. If you don't pay attention at all, no one will know you.
, I suffered a lot in the draft." Zhang Lili sighed.
"That's it, Director Zhang, I just want to talk to someone." Ma Jian's tone was very disappointed.
Lao Zhang frowned. This Ma Jian can be said to be Wang Tiejun's fellow villager, or Wang Tiejun's senior in the provincial team. Both of them played in the United States. The relationship should actually be established easily, but Ma Jian didn't know what to think.
I haven’t had much contact with Wang Tiejun.
He was not familiar with Ma Jian either. When he left the national team coaching position, Ma Jian had not yet joined the coaching staff. But now that Ma Jian was on his side, he had to do something to help.
"Xiao Ma, how about this? You can go directly to Wang Tiejun tomorrow night. He is very easy to talk to and willing to help. If you have nothing to do, please contact him. There are many media around him, and reporters will surround him wherever he goes.
He, he will introduce it to you, and the attention will come." He said.
"Is that so?"
Zhang Lili advised: "Don't hesitate. The draft will be drafted after the playoffs. There is only more than a month left. How can you still have time? Let me tell you, you have already delayed your time. If you had contacted him earlier, the situation would have been worse.
It’s better now. Look at the media, including the media in Utah, where is the news about you? The way you are now, I won’t lie to you, 99% of the time you will lose the election.”
"I didn't have much contact before. Whenever I asked him for help, I just felt a little embarrassed." Ma Jian was still hesitant.
"Why is it embarrassing? You and he are fellow villagers. If you don't look for him at critical times, you are looking down on him." Lao Zhang said.
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Ma Jian said.
May 12th, the Western Conference G3 game day.
At 9 o'clock, at the dinner table, Wang Tiejun looked at his teammates who were yawning nonstop. He himself was the same, knowing that tonight there would be a difficult game that far exceeded the g1g2 game.
"The Jazz must win! The Jazz must win! The Jazz must win..."
At one o'clock at noon, the Suns team's bus arrived at the Delta Center Arena and was surrounded by hundreds of Jazz fans. There were cheers from fans everywhere.
"Bang bang bang..."
The bus was rattled by the fans, which made the players uneasy. They had not slept well in the first place, so they became even more irritable.
"These bastards, we are going to kill them tonight." Lao Wang looked at the Jazz fans and cursed.
"Calm down, don't let them affect us. Old K, especially you, you are the leader of the team. You must face everything calmly. Remember that everything will not be smooth sailing on the road." Assistant coach Lewis immediately reminded.
"I understand." Lao Wang said.
During the afternoon training, the Suns also encountered various problems.
For example, there was a water and power outage in the locker room. The weather in May was already very hot and it was extremely stuffy inside. After changing clothes inside, everyone was already sweating and couldn't wait to run out.
For another example, during training, I found that the floor was very slippery. Several people slipped and fell to the ground while running back and forth. Substitute Tracy Murray accidentally injured his ankle.
One player was injured before the game even started, which made the Suns even more annoyed.
"The floor is not anti-slip at all. They are playing tricks." A Suns staff member said angrily after inspecting the floor.
Colangelo was furious and went to the arena management to ask what was going on.
The management investigated for an hour, and the explanation given was that the warehouse staff had made the wrong flooring. Colangelo was so angry that he sprayed the floor and forced the arena management to immediately replace the non-slip flooring.
However, due to this delay, the Suns' afternoon training was basically wasted. After the floor was replaced, there was no time. In the end, they only did 20 minutes of warm-up activities and no time for shooting training.
The game started at 8:30, and when it was almost 8 o'clock, the Delta Arena was already overcrowded.
At this time, a tall, strong Chinese young man found the visiting team's locker room and told the staff outside that he was looking for Old K.
Lao Wang came out and saw that it was Ma Jian.
Lao Zhang contacted him this morning and said that this fellow countryman would come to him and ask for his help. This is of course possible.
"Brother Ma, long time no see. How are you always?"
"Two years no see, old K, you have made a name for yourself."
The two met once during the All-Star Weekend in 1993. Zhang Lili took Ma Jian to meet Lao Wang in a restaurant. The All-Star Game that year was also in Salt Lake City.
Ma Jian was very emotional. He hadn't seen him for two years. He didn't expect that this little fellow had already become a top star in the NBA. He earned tens of millions of dollars a year. His team had also become one of the most powerful contenders for the NBA championship.
, the powerful Jazz team was out of breath, and sometimes it’s incredible to think about it.
"Brother Ma, what community college are you still in?" Lao Wang asked.
Ma Jian said quickly: "No, I only played there for half a year, and then I went to the University of Utah to play in the NCAA."
Nodding, Lao Wang didn't have an NCAA complex and didn't pay much attention to this college league, which is more popular than the NBA. Lao Zhang didn't mention Ma Jian playing in the NCAA. He didn't even know that Ma Jian was playing in the NCAA. He asked again: "This time
Are you preparing for the draft?"
Ma Jian nodded and said: "Yes, I have already signed up."
Lao Wang said: "Okay, you follow me during this period, and I will show you the exposure."
"real?"
When Ma Jian heard this, his eyes became hot.
In the 1994/94 season, he played the main role at the University of Utah and performed well. However, in the 1994/95 season, his position was taken away by Van Horn and he was reduced to a substitute. He had no chance to perform. There was no attention at all in the United States. He himself
It is estimated that he will only be defeated.
Now that Old K is taking him, he will have more exposure opportunities, and maybe some scouts will pay attention to him. Even if he still fails to be selected, he will have more opportunities to try out with some NBA teams in the future.
Today I came to see Lao K. He had also gathered up the courage to try his luck. Before he could say anything, Lao K took the initiative to take him, which moved him very much.
"Old K, can you introduce me?"
The reporter accompanying the team, Hammers Larry, listened for a long time but didn’t understand it because Lao Wang and Ma Jian spoke in Changshan dialect.
"Oh, this is my fellow countryman Ma Jian. He used to be a member of the Chinese National Men's Basketball Team. He played in the NCAA for two years at the University of Utah at the power forward position. He has signed up for the NBA draft this year. He is very good and focuses on defense.
There is also a mid-range shot, which is similar to the style of the postman." Lao Wang said based on some information about Ma Jian introduced by Zhang Lili.
"Crack, click, click!"
Hammers Larry first clicked the shutter at Ma Jian a few times, and then asked: "Ma, do you also rely on skills like Lao K?"
Ma Jian was very happy. As soon as he found Lao K, the media immediately paid attention, and the effect was immediate!
But when he heard this question, he was stunned, and he couldn't help but complain crazily in his heart, "How can I have his low post skills, and my position can be taken away by Van Horn? With Van Horn's bamboo pole, I can hit the iron mountain."
Damn, I'm afraid I'm not going to be knocked away directly.
"Hey, brothers, let me introduce, this is Ma Jian, you can just call him Xiao Ma. He has reported to participate in the draft..."
Lao Wang then brought Ma Jian into the locker room. There was nothing much to visit. This was the visiting team's locker room, not Phoenix. He introduced Ma Jian to his Suns teammates.
…
At 8 o'clock, the G3 game between the Spurs and the Mosaic team started. At the same time, the two teams also announced tonight's starting lineup.
Suns: Wang Tiejun, AC Green, Drexler, Dan Maley, Kevin Johnson
Jazz: Karl Malone, Tom Chambers, David Benoit, Jeff Hornacek, John Stockton
"Have you heard, Winston, the hotel where the Suns stayed at was very quiet last night?" Carter Oldman said with a smile in the ESPN commentary box.
"It's understandable that the fans will resort to extravagant tactics, but the little tricks used by the Delta Arena are not very particular." Luo Lin shook his head.
"What did you hear?" Oldman asked quickly.
"The arena replaced the wrong floor with a floor without anti-slip treatment. The Suns injured a substitute during the afternoon training, and the training time was also delayed," said Luo Lin.
Oldman laughed and said: "The floor needs anti-slip treatment in the factory. This is a necessary process. This excuse is too outrageous."
Luo Lin nodded and said, "Who knows?"
In the CCTV commentary box, Zhang Liji said: "The Suns need to be careful tonight. The Jazz cannot lose this game again. If they lose, the series is basically over, so the defensive actions must be very big. This is their home court.
The whistle must be biased towards them."
"Don't get hurt." Su Qun said.
At this time, in the player tunnel, ten starting players from both teams were standing against the wall, separated by a team of security personnel, waiting to play.
No one spoke and the atmosphere was depressing.
Lao Wang didn't want to say anything harsh, he didn't sleep well last night, and now he didn't want to waste his energy off the court and beat them up on the court.
"Shh!"
When he appeared on the stage, the shocking boos erupted, as if something tangible was coming towards his face, making his breath suffocate.
"Old K, get out of Salt Lake City!"
"Chinese, this is the land of jazz!"
"Asshole, the postman will teach you a lesson."
Jazz fans on both sides of the tunnel cursed loudly, made many small moves with their hands, and even threw a lot of debris.
Lao Wang calmed down and ran forward unhurriedly.
Several Suns staff members protected him on both sides, shielding him from the debris.
At 8:20, the warm-up ends.
When Lao Wang came off the field, he ran under the east stand and said hello to Ma Jian, who was sitting in the second row.
There are several players from the University of Utah sitting in that row, including head coach Rick Meijers. The NCAA season has ended at the end of March. Several players here have signed up for the draft and came here specifically to watch the game.
For the sake of exposure.
The most popular among them is the main power forward Keith Van Horn, a 208 cm 100 kg bamboo pole, a solid lottery prospect, and a very high position.
His strength is very good, otherwise he wouldn't have taken Ma Jian's position as soon as he entered the University of Utah. He has good shooting skills and can shoot three-pointers. His style is similar to that of Clifford Robinson of the Bulls.
Thanks to the Bulls' spacing tactics, the league is now beginning to pay attention to insiders like him who are very capable of spacing out. ESPN even gave him a draft position in the top three of the first round.
"Ma, you know Lao K very well? Why have I never heard you mention it?"
He was a little embarrassed when he saw Lao K waving towards them. He was even more surprised when he saw Ma Jian stand up.
"Ma, why didn't you say you knew Lao K?" Head coach Rick Meijers also asked curiously.
"He and I are fellow villagers, and we were teammates in the past. We have been in contact in private." Ma Jian said confusedly.
"You and he were teammates?" Several people at the University of Utah were startled.
"Coach, I want to take some time off. Old K invited me to watch his next game." Ma Jian said to Majors.
"ok!"
Majors nodded and said: "If you can train with him for a period of time, it will be of great benefit to you. You must cherish this opportunity."
"I understand, thank you, sir." Ma Jian nodded.
He is indeed very grateful to Meijers. If it weren't for this coach, he would have returned to China long ago and would have no chance to play in the NCAA.
Now he only regrets not contacting Lao K more. If he trained with him regularly, his strength should be much stronger than now.
At least he should go find Old K every summer vacation, wasting too much time and opportunities.
…
At half past eight, the game starts.
Jump ball, Sun offense.
Wang Tiejun ran towards the basket, and the postman was pulling and pulling him on the right side. He took two steps from the free throw line into the paint area, suddenly stopped and turned around, stretched out his arms, stuck the latter behind him, and started asking for the ball.
The postman didn't dare to release it. If he released it again, it would go into the basket. He could only hit the ball from behind.
Kevin Johnson suddenly moved sideways, passed John Stockton and passed the ball in.
"Crack!"
After getting the ball, before Tom Chambers' double-team came in, his back play started.
"Bang!"
With a fierce backward blow, the postman's center of gravity was knocked a little.
The next moment, he turned right and jumped out of the way of the postman. With the second step, he suddenly rose up.
The postman waved his hand, adopted a foul tactic, and directly pulled him down with the ball.
"Beep!"
The referee blew the whistle, a foul was called, and two free throws were made.
"Director Zhang, are you planning to kill Mr. K? Isn't it cost-effective?" Su Qun asked.
"It's really not cost-effective, especially with an absolute core player like the Postman. There are six fouls in total. How many times can he get a few fouls? If he gets two fouls in the first quarter, he won't be able to play well in today's game." Zhang Lijia said.
He nodded.
Su Qun said: "Even in terms of free throw shooting percentage, Lao K is not lower in the playoffs than in the regular season, it is over 60%. Killing tactics are of no use to him."
Zhang Li thought for a while and then said: "The Jazz probably have no choice but to watch the Tiejun dunk and have no choice but to foul.
The last time the Tiejun attacked the basket aggressively, dunking one after another, it had a huge impact on the morale of the Jazz, and the Jazz should want to avoid this happening."
"Bang!"
Missed the first free throw, short.
"What the hell, is this what these bastards have in mind? I can't kill you tonight, I'm going to pronounce the word "王" backwards." Lao Wang waved his hand. He had only thrown twenty or thirty balls in the afternoon, and his hands hadn't warmed up yet.
.
"Bang!"
The second free throw was missed again, with too much force. The ball hit the basket and bounced off the board, and was caught by Chambers.
The Jazz were attacking, and the players were running very actively, constantly engaging in pick-and-roll tactics with each other.
On the contrary, the Suns' players were not very excited and were not very active in following the game, allowing the Jazz to get open shots continuously.
"brush!"
Jeff Hornacek made a mid-range shot and not only hit a shot, but also caused a foul on Drexler, making it a two-plus-one.
0:2, Jazz leads.
"Beautiful, the death ray gun kills you with one shot. If the Suns want to sweep us, it's impossible!"
"Jeff, you did a great job! Look, your three little princesses are cheering for you..."
On the sidelines, two commentators shouted loudly.
The live camera was also very powerful, focusing on the seat next to the Jazz bench.
Sitting there were Hornacek's wife Stacey and his three daughters. At this time, the three little girls were cheering for their father on the field. The youngest daughter, Abby, who had just turned one year old, was also opening her mouth.
The little hands are making noises.
Seeing a close-up of his wife and daughter on the overhead screen, Hornacek smiled, blew a kiss to his wife and daughter on the sidelines, and then started shooting free throws.
The Jazz have two players whose free throws are well-known throughout the league and are unique, and Hornacek is one of them.
He stood on the free throw line, received the ball, dribbled three times, and then gently touched his right cheek three times with his right hand, from top to bottom.
This is his unique free throw method, which was formed after his youngest daughter took the shot. Dribbling the ball three times and touching his face three times represented his greetings to his three precious daughters.
When he touched his face, in the ESPN commentary box, Rollin jokingly recited: "This is touching the big daughter Ryan, this is the two-millionaire Taylor, and this is our cutest little Abby, all in Hornese
Ke's face, haha..."
"brush!"
The water splashed and the free throw was added.
"Jeff's free throw shooting rate this season is as high as 88.2%, and his free throws blessed with love are really accurate." Carter Oldman said with a smile in the ESPN commentary box.
0:3, Suns attack.
Lao Wang insisted on seeking position under the basket. He didn't believe that the postman dared to commit another foul. If the postman really dared to commit a second foul at the beginning, he would have defeated the Jazz in the two quarters today.
Forcing the postman is the first reason, and the second reason is that he is not warmed up enough and wants to get closer to the basket to have a higher success rate.
The confrontation between the two was still very fierce. The first offender was even a little unscrupulous. He raised his elbows and even made hugging and throwing moves.
Under this kind of confrontation, Wang Tiejun wanted to get to his position within three seconds. To be honest, it was quite difficult. He had to leave the basket first and go to the low post on the left wing.
The referee was standing aside, turning a blind eye to some of the postman's rough moves.
In the ESPN commentary box, Rollin said: "This is the home field advantage. The postman has to try hard. He can't get the home whistle. There is no way the Jazz can beat the Suns in this game."
Oldman smiled and said: "He did it. The league least wants a sweep."
In the CCTV commentary box, Zhang Lili reminded: "The postman moves very hard. Tiejun needs to control his emotions to avoid being targeted by the referee. But he must be careful not to get injured."
In the low position on the left wing, Wang Tiejun suddenly turned around and slid to the bottom. With a bear step, he stepped inward and stepped into the paint area.
At this time, the postman retreated quickly. He reacted immediately. His feet immediately came down, and his six forces merged into one, turning his movement into a blow. His right shoulder and back hit the former's chest with the most ferocious force.
.
"Bang!"
The moment he was hit, the postman's body weighing 127 centimeters was uprooted directly backwards. He was in retreat and had no power to resist, and there was no room for him to exert his own strength.
"oh!"
In the center of the delta, countless knights let out huge exclamations.
"Bang!"
The next moment, the violent explosions caused them to become dead silent, and only the cheers from the Suns team were left in the arena.
Tom Chambers was standing not far from the basket. Just now, he returned to defend the basket, but he did not dare to block Old K's attack on the basket. The postman was knocked away and he was afraid of being hit to death.
"Hoo ho ho..."
The postman gasped with his mouth wide open. He was still lying on the floor. The feeling of his chest being crushed still existed, and that huge force still seemed to be hovering above his chest.
Wang Tiejun stood next to the postman's head, surrounded by Kevin Johnson and others, who were shouting at him excitedly.
He was also panting because he didn't sleep well last night and had some physical problems. This kind of high-explosive fighting consumes a lot of physical energy.
He looked down at the postman on the floor, with a sneer at the corner of his mouth, and suddenly shouted at his teammates: "Brothers, follow me and kill the Jazz tonight!"
"Kill Sir!"
Lightning and others responded sharply in excitement.
"Don't even think about it!"
The postman who was pulled up by his teammates roared angrily.
Wang Tiejun was walking forward. Hearing this, he turned back and stared at the postman, and said coldly: "But you can't stop him!"
