On the 21st, ESPN announced its predictions for winning the playoffs.
This TV station only announced the top five with the highest winning chances, which are the Suns at 25, the Bulls at 24, the Pacers at 20%, the Jazz at 18%, the Knicks at 12%, and the other 11 playoff teams’ combined winning chances.
It's 1%.
"Oh, it's unprecedented!"
Seeing this news, Lao Wang felt a sense of surprise.
In the past four seasons, the Bulls have always been first in ESPN's probability predictions, even leading by a large margin over 50%. Unexpectedly, the Suns have now turned around and are singing. Even if they exceed one percentage point, they are ahead. He saw
Very happy afterwards.
He was very happy, but O'Neal was very unhappy.
He is not included in the top 50 superstars, and now the media also underestimates his team's strength, which makes him very unhappy.
Facing a TV interview with a New York TV station, he said unhappily: "Why does my team only have a 12% chance of winning the championship?
We have just defeated the Bulls and Pacers, and we are fully confident that we can continue to defeat the Pacers and Bulls in the playoffs. This season we will advance to the finals."
At the end of the sentence, he shouted from the air: "Old K, wait for me, I will kill you in the finals, and I will fight you to the end in this life."
"This lazy fish seems to be working hard!"
Watching O'Neal on TV, Lao Wang thought, if this fat man really works hard, with his talent and strength, he will definitely be a level stronger than what he is now, and he can definitely become his most powerful opponent.
Picking up the phone, he called Hu Weidong.
Lao Hu is not trusted in the regular season, let alone the playoffs. He may not have a chance to play in garbage time, so he has to be comforted in advance.
After chatting with Lao Hu, he still called David Frank and told him about Da Zhi.
"ok, no problem."
David Frank did not hesitate and agreed to sign Da Zhi, but he asked Da Zhi to come to the United States immediately. The draft was only two months away. He had to use this time to try out some teams and do some promotion, otherwise he would lose the draft.
Trouble.
And a written application must be made 45 days before the draft, and the time is almost here.
"Old K, when will you introduce Yao and me to each other?" David Frank didn't feel embarrassed and directly stated his purpose.
"Don't worry, it's still early for Dayao to participate in the draft. You can't sign him now if we meet him. However, if I can reach the finals this time, I will let him watch my game." Lao Wang said.
"Okay. Old K, don't worry. I will help you with the players you entrust to me. They will take good care of them and there will be no mistakes." David Frank said with a smile.
Lao Wang then notified Da Zhi and asked him to come to the United States immediately to prepare for the draft.
"Brother Tiejun, thank you, I'll book a flight ticket right away."
As a matter of fact, the preparations such as passports and visas have been completed long ago, and I can leave at any time. I was very happy after receiving the call.
…
The Suns' first round will begin on the 24th, and in the next two days, starting on the 22nd, the Suns will resume team training.
At the end of each day, Lao Wang pulled all his teammates to the martial arts gym and rewarded each of them with a can of chicken to replenish them before the start of the playoffs.
On the 23rd, the Kings arrived in Phoenix.
That night, Wang Tiejun completed the plum blossom step training.
I lay in the bathtub and turned on the system to take a look. Some of my physical fitness has been improved again due to the training of plum blossom steps.
The current level and potential level of balance have been increased by two levels at the same time, and are now level 91.
The current level and potential level of coordination have been increased by one level at the same time, and are now level 94.
The current level and potential level of flexibility have been increased by two levels at the same time, and are now level 82.
The potential level of explosive power has been increased by two levels, and is now level 88. The current level has not been changed, and is still level 86.
The potential level of speed has been increased by two levels, and is now level 81. The current level has not been changed, and is still level 79.
"The Plum Blossom Step has not yet reached the fourth level, but its effects have already been shown." He was a little happy. It seemed that training day after day was still effective.
He flipped through other information and found that after one season, some skills had improved a lot, quite a bit.
The basic ball control skills of level 80 have been upgraded to level 82, the assist defense of level 93 has been upgraded to level 94, the steal of level 56 has been upgraded to level 60, the low post pace of level 94 has been upgraded to level 95, and the low post confrontation of level 96 has been upgraded to level 97, level 92.
The low post shot has been upgraded to level 93, the low post shot from level 90 has been upgraded to level 91, the floater has been upgraded from level 90 to level 91, and the layup from level 91 has been upgraded to level 92.
His average number of steals per game this season has reached 1.2. In fact, based on the technical level of steals, he should not be able to achieve such good data. However, thanks to his super long arms, his steal data is not bad.
"You should do a tackling training this offseason. You should also do explosive and speed training. There are also many skills that can be improved."
"Now there are 3,800 points, and the scoring champions and other individual data champions don't get any rewards at all."
He estimated that in the future, the points rewards may only be awarded to the most important honors such as the championship, mvp, and fmvp.
"Keep the points. Plum Blossom Buoy should have a chance to upgrade this offseason. At most, it will be postponed until next season. If we spend the money now, we will be in trouble if we don't get the points."
…
On the 24th, we arrived in Los Angeles at noon. David Frank picked us up, then transferred to another plane and arrived in Phoenix at 4 p.m.
Like Lao Hu, under the witness of Lao Wang, DaZhi signed under David Frank's banner.
Next, he has to go to some arranged teams for trial training under Frank's arrangement.
Of course, David Frank couldn't personally accompany him for a trial training. He had his own agency and arranged staff for Da Zhi.
David Frank analyzed DaZhi's draft prospects. He is close to 20 years old, has the potential to be cultivated, and has certain practical ability. Coupled with his connections, he should not lose the draft. At least a second-round pick will not escape.
Lao Wang immediately complained: "David, you can't say that. He will definitely not be selected. This year, the Suns have two second-round picks, and their value is not great. If he falls into our pick, the Suns will
You have to give me face no matter what."
David Frank laughed and nodded: "okok, I will work hard and try my best to get Wang selected at a higher position in the second round."
Lao Wang reminded: "His position is power forward and he can play as a center forward."
"The main position is power forward?"
David Frank was startled. He didn't understand that Da Zhi, who was as tall as Old K, played power forward?
"He is a space power forward, he has good shooting, good speed, good pace around the basket, and comprehensive skills, but his defense is a bit poor," said Lao Wang.
He and David Frank then detailed the advantages and disadvantages of Da Da, which helped Frank make recommendations to the team.
"Da Zhi, your personality is not as outgoing as Lao Hu. You should be more open and take the initiative to communicate with others. If you can't speak English well now, you can try to make gestures. You must communicate, understand? Otherwise, you will be easily isolated. I will officially join the team in the future.
Now that we are in the team, we must first hire a translator to accompany us for a transition. In addition, learn English quickly so that you don’t know how to say a few words like dog touch you, oil, fake, oil, etc.” Lao Wang warned.
"I got it, Brother Tiejun."
DaZhi nodded honestly, then pointed out Lao Wang's mistake and said, "Brother, that's not English."
"Get out!" Lao Wang scolded with an angry smile.
At 8 p.m., the playoffs of the 1996/97 season are about to begin.
"Old K, have you got Jordan's car?" Lightning asked in the home team's locker room.
"No, I don't have time." Lao Wang said.
"Old K, hurry up and get it. That's a car specially customized by Ferrari for Jordan. It's fun to think about it, haha!" Horry said excitedly.
"What's there? A second-hand car." Kobe said disdainfully.
"You guys think, since I got that car, will Ferrari be in a fight with Jordan?" Lao Wang asked.
"Why are they anxious? If you can sit on it and give them free publicity, it's too late for them to be happy," Lingning said.
"That won't work. You can't make Ferrari cheaper. It's not my sponsor. When I got it back, I just dismantled it and sold it for scrap." Lao Wang immediately shook his head.
"Haha..." The locker room burst into laughter.
"Old K, Ferrari will find a killer to kill you." Rasheed Wallace said with a smile.
"I have two thousand brothers in the United States, what should I be afraid of?" Lao Wang said cheerfully.
"No, they will give Lao K a sponsorship contract right away. The condition is that Ferrari cannot be dismantled again in the future." Lightning laughed.
"Old K, we will announce the MVP after the second round this time and announce the best lineup before the finals. Your MVP should be stable. Let's see if we can get the double first team." Lightning said.
"We can't decide this. Let's finish the playoffs first."
The first round is about to begin, and none of the Suns players are nervous. Wang and the Lightning are already seasoned veterans of the playoffs, taking the lead in creating a relaxed atmosphere. Even rookie Kobe Bryant doesn't have any nervousness, and the locker room is very relaxed.
"Sun King! Sun King! Sun King..."
"Grand champion! Grand champion! Grand champion..."
Soon after he came on the stage, the entire American West Arena burst into loud cheers.
"Another year's playoffs have begun. This time the opponent, the Kings, is too weak. The Suns have a high chance of sweeping their opponents. In the second round, they will play the SuperSonics and the Western Conference Finals against the Jazz. They are both strong teams, so I
It is recommended that you go all out in the first round and be sure to sweep the king and get more rest time." Zhang Lili said.
"I don't think Lao K needs to go all out in this series. The opponent is not strong enough. Let the Lightning fight one more time and he can save some energy." Su Qun said.
"It makes sense." Zhang Liyi nodded.
At 8:30, the Suns' first round G1 game officially begins.
Two hours later, the Suns used their absolute strength to win a big victory with a score difference of more than 30 points, winning the G1 game.
Although the Kings worked hard, they never had a chance to take the lead throughout the game. The strength of both sides was not at the same level at all.
In the next few days, the Suns played two games in a row. On the 28th, they swept the Kings with a score of 3-0 and advanced to the second round.
At the same time, the Bulls, Pacers, Jazz, and Knicks also swept their opponents in the first round. Five teams that were rated as the first team at the beginning of the season lived up to expectations and completed sweeps in the first round.
The Sonics lost one game to Mosaic and failed to complete the sweep.
The other teams did not have such a big advantage and could not complete the sweep.
After the first round, the matchups for the second round came out.
In the East, the Bulls face the Pacers and the Heat face the Knicks.
Western Conference, Suns vs. SuperSonics, Jazz vs. Trail Blazers.
The second round will start on May 4th and 5th, with a best-of-seven game schedule, with the former having home field advantage.
For the eight teams that entered the second round, after the first round, the team management and coaching staff devoted themselves to studying the techniques and tactics of the second round. There was no time to rest and it was very tense.
Of these eight teams, except for the Trail Blazers, who are significantly weaker, the other seven teams are all very strong. The Heat also defeated the Knicks in the regular season, and the Bulls also lost to the Pacers.
"In the second-round matchup between the four groups, the two groups in the Eastern Conference are more similar in strength and are undoubtedly more interesting. During the New York period, Ewing's Knicks were always suppressed by Jordan's Bulls, and Reggie Miller's Pacers had the same fate.
Both are Jordan's old enemies for many years. Now that the two of them join forces, whether they can challenge the Bulls and defeat Jordan will be the biggest highlight of the second round." Los Angeles Sports News.
"Pat Riley left behind the iron-blooded lineup he had built for many years. He switched from the Knicks to the Heat and traded iron-blooded center Alonzo Mourning. He once again built an iron-blooded lineup in Miami. Now the two iron-blooded lineups collide directly. Who wins and who loses?
, it is definitely no less interesting than the Bulls versus the Pacers. At the same time, O'Neal and Mourning were drafted in the same year, and they are both the best super centers of the new generation, and they were suppressed by the old K at the same time. Their direct confrontation also has great significance.
What to watch." ESPN reported.
On the 3rd, the SuperSonics arrived in Phoenix and held a press conference at the hotel.
The SuperSonics have been very strong in the past few seasons, but they have always been suppressed by the Suns and have done nothing. Moreover, the two teams have been enemies for decades. In recent years, Shawn Kemp has been injured many times at the hands of Lao Wang.
I have accumulated a lot of resentment, and this time I am holding my breath and want to kill the Suns.
After this season, Rainman Shawn Kemp's contract is over. He also wants to step on the Suns and work hard for his next big contract.
Especially last time he was injured by Old K again. In this second round, he wanted to vent his anger on Old K and sign a big contract by stepping on Old K. Don't get too excited, just think of being able to dunk Old K.
, it will definitely be great.
Although the Suns had a crazy regular season record of 73 wins, and although the Suns' winning rate against the SuperSonics was a bit high, they couldn't scare the supersonics' adrenaline junkies.
"Gary, the SuperSonics' winning rate against the Suns is very low, less than 20%. The Suns have a record 73 wins and are considered the strongest team in history. How big a chance do you think they have in this second round?" the reporter asked.
.
Gary Payton sneered again and again and spat like trash talk: "How many teams are failing this season? Thirty percent? Fifty percent? Haha, hey, even giants like the Lakers and Celtics are shameless.
The Spurs even threw away their underwear. Haha, don’t you know how much a record of 73 wins means?
Also, don’t brag about the strongest team in history, do the Suns deserve it? This time we will kill them, and we will do what we say.”
After scolding the Lakers for their poor performance, and then scolding the Suns, he scolded his own little team again and said disdainfully:
"Also, that foul-mouthed boy Kidd, don't think that you can win the championship by hugging Old K's lap. He is dreaming."