At 8:30 p.m., ESPN announced the latest championship probability prediction on one of its NBA programs. The Bulls are 51% and the Suns are 49%.
ESPN gave its own explanation. The beautiful host Cathy said in the show: "The Suns are strong on the inside, the Bulls are strong on the outside, and the offense is initiated from the outside. Once the Bulls lock the Suns' outside, they can suppress the others."
The purpose of the inside line, this is why we are more optimistic about the Bulls."
"Now I'm going to call Michael's phone and hope he's watching our show."
During the show, the female host interviewed Jordan on the phone via phone.
"Good evening, Cathy, it's great to hear from you."
"Oh, good evening, Michael, I'm glad to hear your voice too. So Michael, do you agree with our forecast data?"
"Well, you're being too conservative, you could actually give them an egg."
"Kekeke..."
"You bastard Jordan, I'll kick your balls out when we meet him!" Wang Tiejun cursed when he saw this.
Yu Feihong said next to him: "Do you think she will call you?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the female host Cathy on the show ended her interview with Jordan, and then said with a smile: "I will contact Lao K next, and I hope he is watching our show."
Ten seconds later, the landline phone next to Lao Wang rang, and he reached out and grabbed the phone.
"Hello, I'm Lao K."
"Good evening, I'm Cathy, the NBA host on ESPN. Old K, are you watching my show?"
"Wait a minute, I'll switch to your channel right away. I was just watching a TNT program. By the way, is it ESPN?"
"Okay, Lao K, I know you are angry, so do you have any questions about our data?"
"No, I'm not angry. ESPN's forecast data is as bad as ever. I'm used to your unprofessionalism."
"Old K, can you give me some face? I'm a beautiful woman."
"Okay, you must give face to beautiful women. So now I want to use your program to send a message to Mr. Jordan."
"Please tell me."
"Mr. Jordan, I'm sorry, this year will be another disappointing year for you," Lao Wang said.
"Humph, absolutely impossible!"
Jordan, who was sitting in front of the TV, snorted coldly.
Beside him, in addition to family members, was agent David Frank.
Frank finished handling Ewing's contract, arranged a good fishing pier for him, called for door-to-door service from the Gold Club, and then rushed to Chicago.
"Michael, you are already 32 years old, and your physical function is no longer at its peak. These few years will be your last chance, so don't be careless." David Frank warned.
"No problem. Although my body is not as good as when I was in my twenties, I am more dominant in the game. Through training, my strength can be maintained at the peak for at least three or four seasons. I am confident that I can do it."
Jordan said confidently.
David Frank thought for a while and said: "I contacted Barkley yesterday and he was planning to come to Chicago to watch the finals."
"I invited him." Jordan nodded.
Frank said: "Michael, he recommended K martial arts gym and services to me."
"K martial arts gym?"
Jordan frowned.
Of course he knows K Martial Arts, which is often reported by the media. The clients are surrounded by massage therapists from K Martial Arts, so they are very popular with the media.
After observing Jordan's expression and seeing that he did not stop him from talking, Frank quickly continued: "According to Buckley, there are not many items. What he and Dameng bought were mainly medicated baths and medicated oil massages. The former can
Improve your physical fitness, which can improve your ability to resist injuries."
"Have they had any effect?" Jordan asked doubtfully.
Frank said: "Barkley said that they have been using it for three months and feel that the medicated bath can effectively relieve fatigue after the game and speed up the recovery of physical fitness. The medicated oil massage can also soothe the body faster and can indeed reduce injuries.
probability.
According to him, Lao K said that it will take at least one or two hundred times to have some obvious effects, which will take about four to six months. Now they use it every day, without competition or pulling down. This is Lao K
It’s required, and Lao K has been using it.”
"Let me talk to Barkley."
Jordan thought for a while and said, "But that bastard K, I'm afraid he won't do my business, right?"
David Frank breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Jordan would reject the K martial arts gym because of conflicts with Old K.
In fact, in his opinion, there is no need for things on the court to affect off the court. After three seasons, Old K can now be said to be a superstar, especially this season as the core, he led the team to complete a three-round sweep.
Reaching the finals has laid the foundation for a super giant. Jordan should maintain a good relationship with Old K off the court, at least there is no need to be so tense.
However, Jordan's character was too stubborn, and he was not in a hurry to persuade him. He could only follow along and said: "Old K opened the K martial arts gym just to make money. As long as you give him enough money, from a businessman's point of view, he should
Will not refuse."
Jordan nodded thoughtfully.
…
There was no training on the first day. On the morning of the second day, the Suns arranged some recovery training, which was not very large. In the afternoon, they held a tactical meeting for the finals.
Head coach Westphal presided over the meeting, and in addition to the players and coaching staff, Colangelo and other management also participated.
"In the first two away games, we'd better try to win one, so that we have an advantage when we return to the home court. If we can win two of the next three home games, we will be confident. We should also win two home games. If we do
If not, we will be in danger in the finals."
Westphal first talked about the home and away games and analyzed the situation.
Assistant coach Lewis said: "They lost to us in 1993. If we meet again this time, we should have the confidence to win. After all, we have a psychological advantage."
"Haha..." Everyone burst into laughter in the conference room.
After quieting down, Westphal continued: "In terms of tactics, the coaching staff has discussed it many times, let me talk about it now.
On the defensive end, the Bulls should still use the defensive strategy of blocking from the outside and cutting off our internal and external connections. They can't guard Old K and can only work hard on outside defense.
Our response is to strengthen the transfer and response of the ball, and at the same time widen the gap to prevent them from double-teaming the ball holder.
As long as we can pass the ball, Old K can take care of everything. This is our offensive tactic, the wing triangle attack."
Assistant coach Lewis added: "Jordan or Pippen should switch to guard the first position. Kevin, if pressed by them, will quickly pass the ball to the third position."
Seeing Kevin Johnson nodding, he said to Drexler: "Clyde, after you get the ball, you don't need to break through. Neither Pippen nor Jordan will let you get in easily. Just give it to K.
Stay at the three-point line and wait for the pass back, or wait for an opportunity to cut inside to the basket."
"Understood." Glider nodded.
Westphal said at this time: "The weak side needs to increase its running at this time. AC, Dan, you should use more pick-and-roll tactics to try to get open space, or implement back-cutting tactics.
Old K, pay attention to the open space on the weak side. If they double-team you, you can choose to distribute the ball or attack hard. You decide for yourself."
"I know."
Lao Wang and Dan Marley nodded one after another.
Westphal added: "We don't need too complicated offensive tactics. We can use triangle offense on the strong side, pick-and-roll tactics and inside tactics on the weak side. As long as we control the outside mistakes well, transfer the ball well, and pass it on
, there will be no problem in attacking.
The problem is that the Bulls' perimeter defense is their strongest, and whether our perimeter can break through their blockade is crucial."
Lewis said at this time: "If necessary, Green, you have to participate in the response."
"Understood." AC Green said.
Lewis added: "As long as we transfer the ball well on the outside, have clear tactical movements, and widen the outside line significantly, they will not be able to really lock us down."
Nodding, Westphal continued: "After talking about the offensive end, let's talk about defensive tactics. The basic tactic of the Bulls' offensive tactics is of course the triangle tactic, which creates singles opportunities for Jordan. But the specific implementation must be to open up the inside.
A positional warfare style that combines outside bursts and quick breaks.
In terms of fast break, they actually do not have the advantage of playing more and less, because Old K's current speed can already keep up with the fast break rhythm, even faster than Clifford Robinson, and not faster than Tony Cuoco.
Extremely slow.
Their advantage in fast breaks lies in Jordan and Pippen, especially Jordan's finishing ability. We can only try our best to defend this point, but there is no good way.
But be careful not to foul easily. Our substitute lineup is not as good as theirs and if the main players commit too many fouls, we will be in trouble.
In positional battles, their triangle tactics require very high ball transfer, so defenders must keep up and try to cut off the connection between the triangles to disrupt their ball transfer."
After talking about tactics, today's training ended with a two-hour tactical drill.
Training continued as usual on the 3rd, and the intensity reached normal levels.
On the 4th, the Suns boarded a special plane to Chicago.
Danny Manning, who was seriously injured and resting at home, also went to Chicago with the team on crutches this time. He recovered well after the operation, but no one can guarantee what his condition will be when he returns next season.
He only has a one-year contract with the Suns, and the Suns have not renewed his contract. Injury is an important reason, as is the need to renew Wang Tiejun's contract in the first place.
So his current situation is not very good. The reason why he only signed with the Suns for one year was because he wanted to renew a big contract in the future. Now everything has come to nothing.
The only consolation is that he has reached the finals this time and has a chance to win the championship he dreams of.
Accompanying the team were the wife's family members and some local media, all of whom flew to Chicago on a chartered flight.
In addition, 500 Suns fans also chartered a flight to Chicago.
This time the Bulls were very stingy and allocated 500 tickets to fans of the away team and refused to give any more.
Ma Jian, who is following Wang Tiejun these days, is staying in Phoenix. Tickets to the United Center are too expensive and Lao Wang has not prepared them for him, but he has prepared tickets for the home court.
He has gained some media attention in the past few days, but last season he played as a substitute for Van Horn at the University of Utah. He had little chance and his data was not good, so the media's evaluation is not high and his prospects in the draft are still bleak.
Now he just wants to get more attention from some teams, so that after he loses the draft, he can get trial training opportunities with some teams, and have the opportunity to play in summer leagues or even preseason games to see if he can perform.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Suns arrived at the hotel and held a press conference.
"Old K, the service project can effectively relieve fatigue and reduce injuries. Can you introduce it?" The first person to ask the question was a reporter from the New York Times. He asked a question that had nothing to do with the finals.
Lao Wang smiled and said: "There are many people in Phoenix now enjoying those services, and many stars in Hollywood are also very satisfied with the results. In addition to the specific effects you mentioned, there are also some effects, such as improving physical fitness.
and enhance resistance to injury.”
"But I heard that you don't plan to promote it in the NBA. Why?" the reporter asked.
"Who said that? That's impossible. How could I have money but not make any money? As long as you pay, customer."
Lao Wang immediately denied it and explained: "But it is true that my martial arts gym is currently not promoting outside of Phoenix. Soon K-Martial Arts will build its first branch in Los Angeles. I hope more people will join K-Martial Arts."
"
"Old K, the Suns have completed a three-round sweep, so how confident are you in sweeping the Bulls in the upcoming finals?"
The second person to ask the question was a reporter from the Washington Post. His question made the reporters below exclaim, and all the local reporters stared at him.
Lao Wang looked at the reporter with a smile, are you digging a hole for me?
He did not avoid the question and said loudly: "Whether we can sweep the Bulls or not, whether I have the confidence to sweep the Bulls, it doesn't matter.
The three-round sweep has brought our self-confidence to the highest point, but we are still calm. We know that the most important thing at the moment is not a sweep, but winning this series and winning the championship.
So don't ask me if I can sweep the Bulls, that means nothing, the championship is the ultimate meaning."
"Old K, the best lineup will be announced tomorrow. Do you think you can enter the first team? Or double first team?" The next reporter asked.
"I think I have hope of entering the best first team. The double first team depends on luck, but the final result depends on luck. This is not something I can decide. All I can decide is my own performance." Lao Wang said
.
"Glider, you will face Michael in the finals again. How confident are you that you can beat him?" The next reporter was a reporter from Chicago Sports News, who asked in a teasing tone.
Drexler said unhappily: "He is not invincible, otherwise he would not have been suppressed by the black and white heroes and the bad boy army for so many years, and it was not until they grew old that they would have a chance to take the lead."
Chicagoans couldn't refute this. Jordan's Bulls did emerge after those three teams' lineups aged out.
But they were also very unconvinced. If the league hadn't introduced that bullshit anti-isolation rule, Jordan would have been stronger and his statistics would have been even more terrifying.
It's just that the facts are facts. Jordan has lost to the Bad Boys so many times, and they can't say anything now.
Drexler continued: "If he was really invincible, why did he lose to the Suns in 1993 and lose the chance to defend the dynasty? So I believe we can win this finals."
These words made all the local reporters roll their eyes in anger. The Bulls did not win three consecutive championships and lost the dynasty that was within easy reach. This is the biggest regret of all Chicagoans. It is still a regret to this day. Now that Drexler mentioned it, this is in their hearts.
A knife was inserted into it.
Moreover, in this finals, according to ESPN's championship chances, the Bulls do not have a big advantage, so they dare not say that the Bulls can successfully defend the title this time.
In the evening, the Suns reserved a restaurant in the hotel and invited the wives and family members there to have a meal together.
Lao Wang suggested: "Guys, let's watch the TNT show together tonight and see what those guys will say."
"Okay, how about we book a bar in the hotel?" Kevin Johnson suggested.
"ok."
Everyone agreed, and Colangelo graciously stated that the team would pay the fee.
