Jordan: I thought he was there to help me!

Chapter 747 The Knicks' Biggest Challenge of the Season! Old Neil

In the first quarter, the Knicks and Warriors were evenly matched.

The Knicks continued their fast-paced and insane transition offense, just as frantically as they had in previous years.

They scored 30 points in the first quarter, continuing their legend as the league's highest-scoring team.

The Warriors didn't fall too far behind, scoring 25 points, a deficit they could easily close at any time.

The reason the Warriors were able to keep the score close, besides Paul scoring 5 points and dishing out 3 assists in a single quarter without making any mistakes, is mainly due to two other reasons.

The first reason is that Biedrins and Aldridge have a clear height advantage, which allows them to control or disrupt the Knicks' rebounding to the greatest extent possible.

These two guys grabbed 7 rebounds together in the first quarter, really giving Stoudemire and Okur a hard time.

The second reason is Aldridge!

After a nightmarish rookie season, Aldridge suffered greatly from Brown's domineering attitude and Jordan's tyrannical temper. He even felt like a useless piece of trash.

The trade proposed by the Warriors saved him in every sense of the word.

After the trade was finalized, Warriors general manager Chris Mullin immediately called Aldridge.

The core message of the phone call was just one thing.

"There have been many great trades in Warriors history, many of which have revitalized the team. But regardless of what others say or think, I believe the trade I just made is the best in franchise history!"

"Chris has dreamed of playing with you since last year's draft. I've been following your game since high school. We made many offers to the Bobcats, but Michael turned them all down."

"What I'm going to say now is that I've found the best partner for Chris at minimal cost; I've practically gotten the team's core center for the next 10 years for free!"

These few simple words not only brought Aldridge to tears, but also rekindled his confidence and hope!

Jordan and Brown are idiots, but that doesn't mean everyone in the world is an idiot!

This year, I'm going to prove to everyone that I'm not a complete fraud!

So Aldridge trained like crazy throughout the offseason, giving himself almost no time to rest. He started working hard after Mullin called him.

He not only trained on his own, but also took the initiative to contact Paul, Jackson and others to train with him. He not only worked hard to improve his personal skills, but also focused on actual combat. He participated in the Summer League for the second consecutive year, and watched all kinds of videos and videos of his predecessors every day.

Simply put: Mullin's one phone call made Aldridge want to give his life for him.

Aldridge's hard work has led to significant progress this year. Not only has his strength, physicality, and physique improved dramatically, but his various skills, awareness, and shooting consistency have also steadily improved!

This is the real reason why he dominated in the preseason!

With his ability, teammates who can pass the ball to him, coaches and management who value him, and tactical status and playing time, if Aldridge doesn't explode this year, what justice would there be?

In the first quarter, Aldridge scored multiple points through pick-and-rolls with Paul. He had 9 points and 4 rebounds in the first quarter alone, making him the Warriors' top scorer and rebounder.

God knows how excited Mullin was when he saw Paul and Aldridge's perfect teamwork on TV. This alcoholic even happily abandoned his 20-plus-hour abstinence plan and drank a large glass of brandy.

Then, fueled by alcohol, he sent Jordan a text message.

"Michael, on behalf of Golden State fans, thank you!"

Of course, these text messages are mainly for fun; there's absolutely no way you'll receive a reply.

What could Jordan say?

"You're such a nice person, taking advantage of me and you still know how to thank me."

……

In the second quarter, many of the key players from both sides were resting on the bench, leaving Nate, Barnes, Anthony, Smith, and Stoudemire to lead the team.

Meanwhile, for the Warriors, Paul and Jackson went to the bench to rest, while Ellis, Richardson, Morrow, Aldridge, and Biedrins all took to the court.

With this substitution, the Warriors' style immediately underwent a tremendous and dramatic change!

First and foremost is speed. When Paul is off the court, when the Warriors stop forcibly slowing down, and especially when Ellis, a master of chaotic play and a scoring machine, comes on, the Warriors' energy is immediately restored!

Ellis immediately took the ball from the backcourt and dribbled it to the frontcourt. He then quickly made two crossover dribbles to force a breakthrough, completely ignoring Nate who was guarding him and not being shaken off at all. He pulled up and made a strong mid-range jump shot!

"Whoosh!"

After a crisp sound, Ellis's shot—which was tactically unsound, unreasonable, and enough to make 90% of head coaches call him an idiot—went perfectly into the pocket!

Reasonable?

I, Ellis, am just fucking illogical in my appearance!

In the Knicks' offense, Nate was almost overpowered by a coast-to-coast player. Being competitive, he naturally wanted to get back at Nate, so he didn't pass the ball!

Head down, accelerate, and charge forward!

It has to be said that Nate's ability to remain in the league for so many years despite his height is due to his speed and strength that far exceed his height!

Needless to say, his speed is exceptional. Nate's extremely low chassis and dribbling height are natural advantages, making it difficult for opponents to steal the ball when defending him.

As for power?

Those big men want to get an advantage by backing down Nate? Unless you can overpower Nate with your strength, like Lin Tian.

Or perhaps your skills are enough to overpower Nate, and you can easily score points with your footwork and rhythm, like Lin Tian!

Without skills or strength at Lin Tian's level, hehe, don't even think about it!

Nate's defense is absolutely underestimated!

But of course, while it is underestimated, it is not by much.

With his impressive height of 175 cm, as long as he has consistent shooting skills, he can easily make shot after shot in front of Nate.

He can't interfere at all.

But if an opponent insists on getting carried away and tries to outmuscle Nate, then Nate will definitely show his opponent how powerful he is!

For example, in this play, Nate's low dribbling made it impossible for Ellis to find an opportunity to steal the ball. And the notoriously thin Ellis, facing Nate who was like a little rhinoceros, was in so much pain that Ellis winced and couldn't help but retreat.

Nate easily drove to the basket and was about to shoot when Ellis, who had just been knocked aside, reached out to try and steal the ball, but instead slapped the basketball that Nate was holding.

Unfortunately, Nate's finishing ability was lacking, and he couldn't score a 2+1 immediately, instead going to the free throw line.

However, perhaps Ellis hit a little too hard, so Nate missed his first free throw.

After making one of two free throws, Ellis dribbled towards the frontcourt again. He was incredibly fast and in the blink of an eye, he was back at the Knicks' basket. Then, with his signature slow three-step move, he shook off Nate and scored with a left-handed layup!

The gap between the two sides narrowed to just 2 points in the blink of an eye!

But that wasn't the end of it. Next, Nate wanted revenge and once again chose to drive hard, trying to score with physical confrontation. But this time, Ellis showed his intelligence.

"FUXX!"

After being shoved by Nate, Ellis immediately let out a scream, fell backward, and landed on the floor. The referee immediately blew his whistle.

Offensive foul!

In the next round, Ellis once again demonstrated his intellectual superiority.

He waved for everyone to spread out, looking like he was about to take on Nate one-on-one, and then after everyone had spread out, he suddenly made a one-handed pass, passing the basketball to Morrow, who had run out of position on the other side.

The sharpshooter swiftly and decisively hits the three-pointer!

The Warriors have taken the lead!

On the sidelines, Don Nelson remained unperturbed, calmly observing the situation on the court without showing any reaction.

Because none of his key players have even taken a shot yet!

Next, Stoudemire and Anthony will definitely be able to take over the game!

Sure enough, in the next possession, Anthony demanded the ball aggressively, got the offensive opportunity from Nate, and then drove hard to the basket for a mid-range jump shot, putting the Knicks back in the lead!

In the next few minutes, both teams traded blows, and although their scoring efficiency declined, the score remained very close and closely contested.

38: 37!

Three minutes into the second quarter, the Warriors managed to maintain a slight lead thanks to the red-hot bench duo of Ellis and Morrow.

The Warriors then made their first substitutions, with Richardson, Paul, and others entering the game simultaneously, marking the return of their starting lineup to the court at the same time!

Don Nelson still didn't make any substitutions, and he continued to watch Anthony and Stoudemire battle it out on the court.

This style of play and rotation pattern will inevitably become the norm for the Knicks this season.

Everyone knew this was Lin Tian's last season, so even though he was still in top form and had the best mentality and ability in the league, he persevered.

But Don Nelson must also reduce his playing time so that Anthony and Stoudemire can play together more and cooperate more. Only in this way can they adapt to the next season more quickly and experience the chemistry of playing without Lin Tian in advance.

After all, starting next season, the Knicks will have to rely on these two to score goals and maintain their competitiveness.

This season, whether Nelson likes it or not, he has to reduce Lin Tian's playing time and give these two guys more training.

But tonight, both of them really didn't perform very well.

They initially put up a good fight against the bench players led by Ellis and Morrow, but then completely lost control of the game after Paul and Aldridge entered the game.

Although Paul is only a third-year student, he is a top-tier playmaker. His mature playing style makes him look like he has been playing for 15 years.

Once he enters the game, he immediately slows down the pace. In addition, his top-notch defense always allows him to quickly increase the intensity of his defense against the Knicks' backup guards whenever they try to pick up speed.

Then, the Knicks players, who had just started to get going, were forced to slow down again and play a half-court game against the Warriors that they neither liked nor were good at.

If Lin Tian were present, Paul's targeting would have been insignificant; he could have easily dealt with it with a few words.

The problem is that he's currently resting on the bench, and the rest of the Knicks players, whether it's Nate, Brown, or anyone else, are far inferior to Lin Tian and Paul in terms of ability. They simply don't have the ability to break through Paul's tight defense.

However, if the ball is given to forwards like Anthony to advance the ball, while their ability to advance the ball is sufficient, their overall vision and passing ability are somewhat lacking.

In short, the Knicks were completely outmatched in the first half of the second quarter.

"Go, Lin."

With six minutes left in the second quarter, Don Nelson finally patted Lin Tian on the shoulder, signaling that it was his turn to enter the game!

At this point, the Knicks were already down by 6 points.

In the second half of the second quarter, the Knicks trailed the Warriors by a full 11 points.

Anthony and Stoudemire's performance as team leaders during this period has clearly been inadequate.

But head coach Don Nelson seemed unconcerned. The old man showed no anger or fury, only a slight pursing of his lips, clearly indicating that his mind was racing.

At the same time, what Don Nelson is thinking now is also what all Knicks fans are thinking.

What will we do without Lin Tian?

At least for now, Stoudemire and Anthony are both great and excellent. They are undoubtedly top-tier stars, All-Stars, and top contenders for the All-NBA First Team.

Their playing style is appealing, their tactics are explosive, and their personalities are great; they're the kind of players who can help their teams make a lot of money.

But the problem with these two is that they can score, and they are good at scoring.

But they aren't very good at leading their teams to victory.

Neither of them are qualified leader players.

Stoudemire never went to college, missing out on an important experience. Even after playing in the NBA for so many years, he still seems more like a child than a mature leader.

Although Anthony attended college and won an NCAA championship, having won almost every NCAA award during his freshman year, it might be controversial to call him the greatest and most dream-like freshman in NCAA history.

But as a freshman at NCAA, he definitely deserves a place on Mount Rushmore.

But that's precisely Anthony's problem.

He developed physically too early and matured technically too early. During his university years, he was virtually invincible, and no one could cause him any trouble.

After entering the NBA, he failed to make the playoffs in his first year. Then, with the arrival of Lin Tian, ​​the Knicks became a winning team and won two consecutive championships!

This kind of experience isn't something you'd expect from a protagonist in a shonen anime; it's practically the kind of life only protagonists in overpowered anime or third-rate basketball novels get to have.

Everything went too smoothly.

Carmelo Anthony's life has been so smooth that he almost doesn't know what setbacks are.

If a person keeps losing, they will lose their edge and confidence.

But if a person always wins, they will also lose the ability and methods to cope with setbacks.

No one can have a smooth journey, and no one can win all the time.

Even God was nailed to the cross, didn't he?

Thinking of this, Old Nelson suddenly couldn't help but purse his lips, and then sighed helplessly.

In his team, there really is someone even more like an anime protagonist than Anthony, a monster who has been fearless and invincible all the way, easily clearing levels and destroying the entire league.

Lin Tian.

What was the biggest setback this guy has ever suffered in his life?

Did they fall to the second round of the draft and almost go undrafted?

Simply outrageous.

Old Nelson shook his head, trying to banish the monster Lin Tian from his mind and forget about him completely so he could think about the Knicks' future.

He also signed a four-year contract extension with the team this summer.

4800 million over 4 years!

His annual salary of $1200 million is the highest among all NBA coaches! It breaks the NBA record and is also the highest record among the four major leagues in North American sports history.

Originally, Don Nelson thought that Lin Tian would re-sign with the Knicks for another 4-5 years, and he wanted to retire with Lin Tian. He even thought that if Lin Tian played until he was 40, when his energy declined, he would simply leave Lin Tian behind and go enjoy a happy retirement life.

But now, it's actually him, the old man, who's left to keep going.

That's a lack of martial ethics!

Now, the problems facing Nelson are quite serious and urgent.

Without Lin Tian, ​​the greatest player in league history, the Knicks' strength will inevitably be greatly reduced.

Anthony and Stoudemire are both great, but they can't carry a championship-caliber team.

At the same time, with Lin Tian gone, the team must bring in a qualified point guard, because the current ones on the team are really not good enough!

And Anthony and Stoudemire obviously can't just keep playing like this.

They have to learn to sacrifice and share; they have to step out of their comfort zones, make themselves stronger, and learn to take responsibility.

Moreover, even if these two players improve rapidly, the Knicks obviously cannot continue with their current style of play.

The Knicks today are basically 9 points on offense and 1 point on defense. Everything they do is based on offense. With Lin Tian, ​​they have the best scoring ability and passing ability in the world. More importantly, Lin Tian also has a perfect mode switching button.

Lin Tian had a perfect grasp of the critical point and dividing line between attacking and passing the ball.

He always makes the right choice.

With Lin Tian on the team, the Knicks can dominate all their opponents in the series simply by relying on their offense.

But what if Lin Tian is gone...?

If we continue this relentless offensive without any defense, it's clearly not going to work.

The firepower couldn't keep up.

They need to be more balanced, they need to improve their defense, and become a team that excels in both offense and defense, minimizing and concealing their weaknesses while maintaining their strengths.

If the previous method was nine shallow and one deep...

No, pshaw!

If it was previously nine attacks and one defense, now it should be at least seven attacks and three defenses, and ideally six attacks and four defenses.

If they can't do that, then Nelson believes that once Lin Tian leaves, even if the team manages to maintain a playoff spot, they will definitely no longer be a powerhouse.

Improve your defense!

Enhance the leadership qualities of Anthony and Stoudemire!

Make preparations in advance for the absence of Lin Tian!

At the same time, he also wants to compete for the championship, to bring a perfect end to Lin Tian's professional career.

The task ahead is arduous and the road is long! (End of Chapter)