On the night of the second day, the game between the Suns and the Cavaliers began.
Although the two former teammates are both in the Cavaliers, the Suns are going all out in this game because the Suns have the Cavaliers' first-round pick this year. The worse the Cavaliers' record is, the more valuable this pick is.
In Luo's words, it's like beating him to death.
In the end, the Suns defeated the Cavaliers and won their 38th victory.
On the 3rd, the Suns arrived in Washington, preparing to challenge the Bullets on the 4th.
At the same time, the Bulls had just played back-to-back away games on the 1st and 2nd, defeating the Warriors and Lakers respectively, and arrived in Denver on the 3rd, preparing to challenge the Nuggets.
Like the Suns, the Bulls also have a long road trip. After playing the Nuggets, they will immediately have back-to-back road games against the Suns and Warriors.
On the 4th, the Suns successfully defeated the Bullets and won their 39th victory.
At the same time, after experiencing back-to-back games, the Bulls lacked physical fitness, poor condition, and Pippen was absent. They lost to the Nuggets and suffered their fifth defeat, with a record of 40 wins and 5 losses.
The Suns are 39 wins and 5 losses, with one game in hand and only half a game behind the Bulls.
On the 5th, the Suns finally returned to Phoenix, and on the same day, the Bulls also arrived in the city.
On this day, Wang Tiejun finally completed the three-month defensive training. His single defense was upgraded by three levels and is now at level 97. His assisting defense was upgraded by five levels and is now at level 93.
The improvement of defense has greatly improved his ability to protect the basket. At the same time, his guarding of the entire penalty area has also reached a first-class level.
On the 6th, the two teams started playing.
In this game, the Suns removed Michael Finley from his starting position because the rookie hit the rookie wall.
In fact, he started to have problems with his physical fitness before, and he has been adjusting, but his performance is still struggling. Now in the second half, the team, under Wang Tiejun's request, must make every effort to hit the league's first record, so they can only remove him.
main position.
Robert Horry returns to the starting lineup, playing the three position.
In the 8th minute of the game, the score was 90:101. The Bulls were already 11 points behind. The situation was not good and a timeout was called.
The game was broadcast live nationwide by ABC TV. Bill Walton said: "The Bulls are missing Pippen on the outside, which has a great impact. The strength of both sides immediately reversed, and the Suns had the upper hand.
The main problem with Pippen's absence is that without a general who averages 20 points per game, his scoring ability is weakened. Without an offensive organizer, half of the perimeter defense has collapsed. Now only Jordan can control the ball.
Ron Harper's offensive ability is now declining. The Suns are focusing on dealing with Jordan, with Ben Wallace and Horry assisting in defense. No matter if he goes to the left or right, he will always encounter one of these two people. Although Jordan's offense is still
He played quite well, scoring 31 points in more than three quarters, but his efficiency was not very high, with a shooting percentage of 47%, which is lower than the average per game this season."
John Hanks continued: "For the Suns, Horry plays the three position. Although his ball-handling ability is at Finley's level, he has enough height. The power forward's height is misplaced at the three position.
advantage, so he became another outside support point besides the Lightning."
Bill Walton nodded and said: "This is very important. Without Pippen, Jordan and Ron Harper will not be able to lock down the Lightning and Horry at the same time. This will allow Old K to get support from the outside."
John Hanks said: "Yes, Old K went all out to attack. He scored 41 points in more than three quarters, and his shooting percentage reached 63%, which was higher than the last game against the Bulls. This shows his defense against Rodman.
He already has experience. In addition, he also allocated part of his energy to defense and rebounding."
Bill Walton said: "If Old K doesn't defend, Jordan will break his penalty area into a sieve. If he doesn't grab rebounds, Rodman will steal them all. These two points are very important. In this situation
Under such circumstances, he was able to score an efficient 41 points, which was really a powerful performance.
But this consumes a lot of his physical energy. Fortunately, he has Ben Wallace who does the dirty work beside him, and he can share some of the pressure from defense to rebounding."
John Hanks laughed and said: "Ben Wallace, the undrafted player, has made some progress now. He has a strong defensive awareness, improved defensive skills, and better defensive experience."
"At the same time, he can also contribute to the team's rebounding. The Suns signed him with a non-guaranteed contract, which is very cost-effective. I can be sure that after this season, the Suns will give him a guaranteed contract.
." Bill Walton laughed.
John Hanks said: "Bill, it seems that Pippen's absence has a really big impact on the Bulls!"
Bill Walton nodded and said: "Of course, the Bulls can beat the Suns on the court by relying on perimeter defense. Now that Pippen is gone, and the Suns have used Horry's height at the third position to establish a second support point, the Bulls can't
By locking down the opponent, it is possible to repeat the situation of the last finals.
But if Pippen comes back, with his defense, he will definitely destroy Horry's support point. Horry's ball-holding ability is only average. After all, he is so high, and his ball-protecting ability will not be very good. By then, the Suns' perimeter
It may still be locked up, and relying on Horry cannot solve the problem.
Therefore, if the Bulls want to maintain their advantage over the Suns, they must ensure the health of their main players, especially the perimeter. Only by ensuring that the perimeter defense can lock down the Suns can the Bulls have a chance to win.
In fact, the Bulls and Suns are two completely opposite teams, one is strong inside and the other is strong outside. They restrain each other, and whoever can restrain the other will be the winner."
Nodding, John Hanks said: "Actually, comparing the lineups of both sides, the two teams are almost the same. Whether it is offense or defense, they are almost the same."
Bill Walton laughed: "The main lineup of the Bulls, Jordan is currently averaging 33 points per game, Pippen is 19 points, Clifford Robinson is averaging 20 points per game, and Ron Harper is only averaging 8 points per game, which is about the same as Rodman.
, the five main players averaged nearly 90 points per game, and their offensive capabilities are very strong.
As for the Suns, Old K is currently averaging 42 points per game, the Lightning are 18 points, and Person is 12 points. Robert Horry, who started today, is about the same, Ben Wallace is averaging 5 points per game, and the five main players are also averaging close to 90 points per game.
The main players are almost the same. As for the substitutes, the Bulls have sixth man Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr. The two of them can average about 22 points per game. The Suns have Wilkins and veteran Tisday.
Er, as well as the starting small forward Finley, the scoring ability exceeds that of the Bulls' bench.
John, based on this comparison, it seems that the Suns have a stronger lineup?"
John Hanks laughed: "If you want to purely compare lineups and paper data, you can really say that. But you only count the offense, not the defense.
If the Bulls lineup is complete, how can the Suns perform on the outside? The last game is proof that under the Bulls' defense, the Suns were completely defeated on the outside, the old K lost support inside, and the Suns were defeated, so just
There's no use calculating a paper lineup."
Bill Walton nodded and said: "So the Bulls must ensure that the lineup is complete, otherwise the result will be the same as this game."
At this time, John Hanks looked a little weird and said: "But, Bill, with this rebuilding lineup, the Suns can force the Bulls to play like this. If they select one or two good outside rookies this year,
If we train them for one or two seasons, the NBA will most likely usher in an era that belongs to the Suns."
"It's the old K era."
Bill Walton corrected him, and then added: "O'Neal in the East was traded to the Knicks. In the future, the three super centers will grow old, and Jordan will grow old. The league will inevitably usher in a real era of behemoths. Is it the K era or the Knicks era?"
In the Austrian era, it all depends on the results of their competition."
"The era of fat people? Haha..."
John Hanks laughed out loud at his partner's words, and at the same time many fans in front of the TV also laughed.
"What does this wicked bastard mean by the O'Fat era?" O'Neal said angrily in New York.
He is really angry. Being fat will ruin everything. Even though he has lost weight, calling him fat again will affect his image and thus his commercial value. Even his ability to pick up girls will be affected.
American West Arena, the timeout ends, the game restarts, and the Bulls attack.
However, without Pippen, the Bulls were unable to lock down their opponents and ultimately lost the game.
Back in the locker room, Phil Jackson summarized the game and mentioned the health issues of the main players.
He emphasized that Pippen will be injured for at least a month, and other main players will have more playing time and greater pressure, and rotations need to be strengthened to avoid more injuries.
Jordan also realized that he could no longer compete with Old K for team record. Once injury problems occur again, it is likely to affect the playoffs.
That bastard K is already fighting for the MVP, so there is really no need to fight a war of attrition with him in the regular season.
On the other side, in the home team's locker room, the atmosphere is very good.
The Suns are now 40 wins and 5 losses, and the Bulls are 40 wins and 6 losses. The Suns played a small game and won by more than half, officially ascending to the top of the league.
"Double happiness! No, it's triple happiness! Climb to the top, get married, and become a father, haha!" Lao Wang was really happy and excited.
Next to me, little Gao Bin was also happy for Lao Wang, and the smile never broke on his face.
On the 8th, the Suns made persistent efforts and defeated the Nets at home, winning the last game before the All-Star Game.
This year’s All-Stars are in San Antonio, and the 11th is the game day. On the 9th, Lao Wang and Lao Colangelo arrived in Los Angeles.
Because marriage here requires a priest or an American to be a witness and sign, so he invited old Colangelo to be a witness.
Yu Feihong and a large group of people from the martial arts school drove several cars over to pick them up, as well as their manager Hawksman.
In addition, because the news that he was going to register for marriage had been revealed to the media by a group of teammates, a large group of media were also waiting for him at the airport.
After finally getting rid of the media, everyone was able to leave the airport.
Hawksman had already made an appointment. He took a rest in the hotel at noon. After changing into a dress, he and Yu Feihong went to the government to apply for a marriage license in the afternoon. After completing the procedures, they got the marriage certificate and went to the Consulate General in Los Angeles for certification.
.
Liu Changjiang, who was attentive, prepared a large bag of wedding candies for him, and distributed them throughout the Consulate General, and received a lot of congratulations.
He also received countless congratulatory text messages on his phone, and he could only reply uniformly.
Although he was only registering and not holding a wedding, he still booked a restaurant for the evening, opened dozens of tables, and entertained a group of Chinese representatives from the Greater Bay Area who came over to congratulate him, as well as some of the best-connected Hollywood stars.
On the 10th, he arrived in San Antonio with Yu Feihong.
Yu Feihong's physical constitution is very good. He takes medicinal food every day, so the pregnancy is not very strong, so he has no problem flying.
When we arrived at the hotel, we were ready to take a rest before having lunch.
Yu Feihong rested on the bedside. Lao Wang sat next to him and counted on his fingers. He was pregnant in October. Now it's early February. That's the end of the year?
"God bless me, no matter whether I am a man or a woman, just don't be as stupid as you." Yu Feihong said helplessly.
"Why am I stupid?" he said unconvinced.
"I have been pregnant for more than a month now. We have to count it from Christmas, not from now. And if you are pregnant in October, it is a natural month with only 28 days, so the pregnancy period is only 280 days. Nine months
Early months, not ten months." Yu Feihong said angrily.
Lao Wang blushed and quickly tried to recalculate. Yu Feihong said: "At the beginning of October, around the National Day."
"That's good. It just so happens that the new season hasn't started yet." Lao Wang said happily.
Yu Feihong said with a hopeful look on his face: "It would be great if the child is half as smart as the eldest sister and the second sister."
Lao Wang wanted to make a distinction, but after thinking about it, he decided to forget it because he had no confidence.
"By the way, Xiaofei, you can't call me Second Sister anymore. You have to call me Second Sister. You can't call me random." He warned.
Yu Feihong was startled and nodded.
In the next two days, the All-Star Weekend began. Lao Wang dealt with it casually, focusing mainly on Yu Feihong and renewing his contract with the Mammoths.
Hawksman has reached an agreement with Mammoth. Mammoth boss Roman Weeks poached several executives from Reebok and Nike with high salaries, reorganized the management, and established a brand K company for Wang Tiejun. Every time a pair of K series is sold,
For sneakers, Lao Wang enjoys 66% of the profit dividend rights.
This is different from Jordan, who directly owns 4.5% of Nike's shares, which is more valuable.
But the value of having two-thirds of the dividend rights is also very great. Unless Mammoth is at the end of its rope, it will not give out this condition easily.
The biggest significance of this dividend right is not how much money can be distributed every year, but as long as the brand exists, he can receive dividends from it. Not only is it a lifelong dividend right, but it also has inheritance rights, which his heirs can inherit.
On the morning of the 11th, the two parties completed the signing.
Before signing the contract, Hawksman gave Lao Wang a detailed analysis. In 1995, the sales volume of K-series sneakers reached 250 million U.S. dollars. According to the current cost accounting, two-thirds of the profit dividend can reach 20% of the sales revenue.
Three percentage points.
This amount of money is already relatively small. The endorsement deal Iverson just reached with Reebok is $50 million over ten years and $5 million a year.
And as its performance becomes stronger and stronger, the sales volume of the K series will further increase, and the annual dividends will also rise.
If Mammoth's Chinese factory is established in the future, it will be able to sell K brand in China and will also receive large dividends.
But Hawksman told Lao Wang that the sales volume of Jordan's MJ brand reached 500 million US dollars last year, and his K brand's market share was not high, only half of that of the MJ brand.
"Don't be afraid. China is booming now. The domestic market for my shoes will definitely be big in the future, and I won't make less money than Jordan." He said with confidence.
"Old K, are you so confident?" Hawksman said in surprise.
"certainly."
"Why?"
"Why can't our country's economy get better and better?" Lao Wang said arrogantly.
"..."
Hawksman is speechless. Without data to support it, I don’t believe it.
…
On the 12th, after the All-Star Weekend, Wang Tiejun sent Yu Feihong back to Los Angeles and asked his cousin Tian Xiaofen to take care of her. Yu Feihong will continue to go to school for the time being, depending on his physical condition.
After the All-Star Game, the regular season continues.
The Suns continue to move forward with all their strength, while the Bulls have increased their rotation. The Big Three Mosaic, who was rated by the media as being able to compete with the Bulls at the beginning of the season, continues to be in a state of half-death.
And some teams started to perform badly. In order to win a good lottery, they would lose games that they shouldn't lose, and the sports market couldn't care less.
Among them, there is the Celtics, the green team.
It was the end of February, and suddenly the media broke the news that Wake Forest University center Tim Duncan might participate in this year's NBA draft.
This news detonated the entire league like a bomb.
Tim Duncan, a junior in college this year, NBA star, and current Lakers general manager Jerry West once publicly stated before the 1995 draft that if Duncan is willing to participate in the draft, he will definitely become the No. 1 pick in 1995.
And even in this year's draft year, almost all media's predictions for Duncan's draft prospects are that the lowest one is sixth in the first round, and will not fall below sixth.
"Great, we want Duncan, and from now on, we will do everything we can to destroy him." Cardinal Auerbach of Boston gave the order.
Unfortunately, within two days, Tim Duncan, who was preparing for March Madness, publicly announced that he would not participate in the 1996 draft.
"Next season, we are going to mess up and make a profit." At the same time, at least half of the teams in the league have made the decision to mess up.
The Spurs and general manager Popovich also have the idea of failing next season, but this still requires the cooperation of David Robinson and the coaching staff. His current prestige with the Spurs is not high enough, and he cannot make a formal decision at the moment.
Decide.
The Lakers failed to rob the old K, and failed to poach O'Neal. Recently, the boss Buss was not satisfied with Jerry West's work ability, which put more pressure on West.
"How about blocking it next season and ruining it?"
Breaking the pot, West suddenly came up with this idea, but he couldn't decide for the moment because it would do too much harm to the ball market.
