Wang Feng's sudden appearance was like a sleepy pillow coming to Stern.
When the Knicks management asked about Wang Feng, Stern said nothing more and did not ask the Knicks to increase Wang Feng's playing time.
He knows very well that opportunities are opportunities, but whether he can seize the opportunity cannot rely solely on his operations.
You still need to be strong in order to win. Whether Wang Feng can gain a foothold in the NBA ultimately depends on his true strength.
This was the same later.
Yao and Daba, the two pioneers from China who went to the NBA, failed to achieve much in the NBA. It was not until Yao joined the NBA as the number one pick in 2002 that the world truly saw how strong Chinese basketball players can be.
It’s not that Stern didn’t want to praise Stern, but his strength or his playing style was not suitable for the NBA at that time, and his opportunities were slightly worse. Coupled with some off-court factors, this led to Stern’s mediocrity in the NBA.
.
This is simply not true for Wang Feng.
His strength can no longer be concealed by his position on the bench!
After the game against the Timberwolves, Van Gundy communicated with Wang Feng privately. The coaching staff held a meeting after the game and unanimously decided to give Wang Feng more playing time in subsequent games. Two days later, the team will welcome a strong opponent at home, Indiana.
Walker.
Pat Riley plans to give Wang Feng at least 25 minutes of playing time in this game, and let Wang Feng be responsible for defending the Pacers' star Reggie Miller.
The reason why the coaching staff made such a decision is mainly because Wang Feng's excellent perimeter defense ability should be able to effectively curb Miller's performance.
The Knicks' outside defensive capabilities have always been far inferior to their inside defense, otherwise they would not have been single-handedly defeated by Pippen in the Christmas Day game.
Wang Feng was very excited when he heard the news.
On the one hand, 25 minutes of playing time is enough for Wang Feng to do a lot of things on the court. On the other hand, the task of guarding Miller also makes Wang Feng eager to try it.
Reggie Miller is a famous shooter in history. Before Ray Allen and Curry, Miller was the first three-point shooter in history.
Although looking at Miller's entire career, the honors of only three third teams and five All-Stars are not on the table at all. Personal honors and team honors are very average, and his career scoring average is only 18.2 points per game. As a shooting guard,
Definitely not outstanding.
But whether later or now, Miller is regarded by the league and all NBA fans as the league's top shooting guard.
If Wang Feng can defeat Miller in a direct confrontation, his popularity will probably explode instantly.
Fighting against strong men is the best way to become famous.
In fact, the reason why Miller's status has skyrocketed is directly related to the 7 bloody games with the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals in the 1997-98 season.
Even though Miller only averaged 17 points per game, and the Joes averaged 31.7 points at home, as the only team that played seven games against the eventual championship Bulls in that playoff, Miller was still dubbed Jordan
The name of a lifelong enemy.
Wang Feng is actually quite strange. Miller has only met Jordan's Bulls once in the playoffs in his entire career. Why is he called his lifelong enemy?
The topic has gone a bit far.
Although Miller does not yet have the buff of Jordan's lifelong enemy, as the league's top shooting guard and the strongest three-point shooter, he has become one of the biggest beneficiaries as the league changes its rules to shorten the distance between the three-point line.
Although Miller's scoring average this season is not outstanding, his three-point shooting numbers have risen sharply, and his shooting percentage has remained stable at around 42%.
The Pacers have performed very well this season, with a winning rate of over 65%. They currently rank second in the Eastern Conference, four games ahead of the Knicks, who have just climbed to third place in the Eastern Conference with six consecutive wins.
Because of this, the game between the Knicks and the Pacers is also the focus of the league's attention, and it meets Wang Feng's conditions for being in the limelight.
…
On January 10, at Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks, the highlight battle between the Knicks and the Pacers is about to begin.
Although he got the playing time promised by the coaching staff, Wang Feng was still not the team's starter in this game, so he still watched the team's starting five from the sidelines.
It's just that unlike the last game, this time many fans shouted Wang Feng's name in the direction where he was.
Obviously, Wang Feng's performance in the last game allowed him to successfully gain a small number of fans.
The game starts soon.
As expected by many people, neither team wanted to lose in this focus battle, so at the beginning of the game, both sides immediately reached full intensity.
The Knicks, with Ewing, have an advantage in the paint, but the advantage is not obvious because the Pacers' starting center is Rick Schmitz, a big center with a height of 2.24 meters.
Only slightly lower than Dayao.
In fact, Dayao's official template for entering the NBA is Schmitz. Although he has only been selected to the All-Star once in his entire career and averaged only 18.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in his peak season, in a country dominated by the four major centers
In this era, you can create a world of your own, which is evident from the level of this big man's inside position.
Ewing, who is 2.13 meters tall, stood in front of Schmitz and immediately looked much shorter. Even though Schmitz had almost no jumping ability like Yao, he easily beat Ewing in the jump ball.
.
The Knicks' home fans were very keen to see the "Gorilla" tearing up the "Giant", but unfortunately such a scene did not appear.
The weight of the two centers is close, but the huge difference in height makes Ewing's best rabbit jump shot extremely difficult. If he is not careful, he will be blocked by the opponent. In order to avoid being blocked, the shooting angle is also increased.
Lowering Ewing's shooting percentage.
In the first quarter of the game, Ewing could only exchange blows with Schmitz, and his shooting percentage was even slightly worse than that of Schmitz.
While they don't have an absolute advantage inside, the Knicks also have problems on the outside.
In the duel between guards, Starks was completely suppressed by Miller. Although the two did not face each other directly and just played their own roles, it was obvious that the gap between the two shooting guards was obvious.
Miller's touch seemed to be very hot today. In the first quarter alone, he took 3 shots from beyond the three-point line and hit 2 goals. At the same time, he made 2 of 4 2-pointers and scored 10 points.
The gap on the outside made the Knicks slightly inferior at 26:29 in the first quarter.
However, as the game entered the second quarter, the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse.
Miller, who scored 10 points in the first quarter, hit two three-pointers at the beginning of the second quarter, and then hit the basket with the ball and caused a foul and made two free throws.
In the blink of an eye, the score difference between the two teams widened to more than double digits.
The Knicks' rhythm was completely broken, and Riley had to call an emergency timeout.
Frowning tightly, Riley couldn't help but look at Wang Feng aside.
Do you want to send Wang Feng?
Riley was quite confused.
This is only the second game of Wang Feng's NBA career. He has been put under so much pressure since the beginning, and he has to face off against Miller, who has a hot hand...
Riley is very worried that Wang Fengfeng will collapse on the court because he cannot withstand the huge pressure, and the team will become even more passive by then.
After a slight hesitation, Riley saw Wang Feng looking towards him.
After thinking about it, he asked Wang Feng: "If I ask you to play to limit Miller's scoring, are you confident that you can do it?"
Wang Feng nodded without thinking and said: "Of course, coach, let him not think about scoring another point!"
Wang Feng had clearly seen Miller's game process just now.
I have to admit that although he has won very few personal honors, there is no doubt about Miller's strength. At least he is as capable and explosive as Thompson in terms of scoring.
Once this kind of player feels hot, he can really kill his opponent with a single-handed shot!
But they also have shortcomings. They rely too much on shooting, which can lead to unstable scoring.
Whether it is Thompson in the future or Miller now, this problem exists.
And when they meet Wang Feng, a top outside defender with purple defensive shock and golden death coil badges, no matter how hot they feel, they have to cool down!
Moreover, although Miller has a strong shooting ability, his playing style is very retro. When looking for opportunities, he basically relies on his teammates' pick-and-roll screens or his own running without the ball to get out of position.
"Okay, when the timeout is over, you come on and replace Anthony." Riley nodded, quite satisfied with Wang Feng's confidence.
Since Wang Feng is so confident, let him try it.
…
When the timeout ended, the players from both teams reappeared, and the lineups were slightly adjusted, but the main core players were still on the court.
When Miller walked onto the court, he immediately saw that the player opposite him, Anthony Mason Jr., had transformed into a completely unfamiliar face. His yellow skin color, which was very unique in the NBA, was particularly unusual.
After being slightly stunned, Miller couldn't help but frown.
"I said Patrick, are you looking down on me?"
He turned to look at Ewing aside and said unceremoniously: "I have already scored 18 points! You actually sent such a rookie to guard me. Do you want me to break my personal single-game scoring record?"
Ewing glanced at Miller but didn't respond.
Miller is famous for his bad words in the league. Regardless of whether he has been beaten or beaten, Miller has always been unforgiving when it comes to his words, even when facing Jordan.
Ewing ignored Miller, but Wang Feng was unhappy.
"Score record?"
Wang Feng looked at Miller and said: "I remember you only scored 50+ points in one game in your entire career, right? It is true that it is not easy for you to score high scores in a game. The opportunity is rare, but... next you
What should be a headache is how to score 20+ points, Wang Feng, this is my name, I am not called a rookie, remember it for me!"