News about Josh Smith being deflated after the game and Lord Duke's heroic blow up of the provocateur caused extreme comfort among New York fans the next day. Two consecutive home wins have also dispelled the bleak suspicion of a six-game losing streak in pre-season.

At the same time, Snoopy has finally been recognized by some professional commentators, who are finally starting to really see Dugg as a star player. Previously, the players considered eligible for star play in the '08 class were Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Michael Beasley and OJ Mayo. Dugg has always been regarded as a top blue-collar ...... Even when he won the Rookie of the Year award last year, there were some conspiracy theories that it was a relationship behind Nike.

As for the rookie leading the team to the finals, it is called lucky.

This has to be said to be a prejudice.

Intuitively, Rose, Westbrook, Love, Beasley and even Mayo do have more eye-catching offensive performances. Derrick Rose, in particular, is even known as the next superstar with his terrifying breakaway finishing ability, coupled with top-notch playmaking skills. At one point, his ceiling was thought to be well above Dug.

Even now, commentators still believe that Derrick Rose has a higher ceiling.

For many pundits, Snoopy has simply broken through the threshold of stardom. They are still cautious about his ceiling.

Because, compared to players like Rose and Westbrook, whose physical qualities can be called terrifying. Snoopy is more of an interior player, although he now has a masterful ball-handling skill and some back-to-back singles skills. However, put him under the standards of an outside player. His dynamic physical qualities...... Speed, explosiveness, jumping height with the ball, waist and abdominal strength, and flexibility are all at a disadvantage.

Like Derrick Rose, he is able to change direction and shake off opponents at absolute high speed without hitting the brakes. Westbrook can also break into the box like a brute bull and end the fight with a smashing slam dunk.

These things are the most important indicators to evaluate the potential space of young players. That's why it's always the 'Antelope Elk' type players who dominate the top spots of the lottery every year.

Dugg also occasionally looks at these analytical predictions.

In fact, he agrees. The difference in physical fitness does determine the upper limit. However, Dugg has confidence in the energy in his body. He thinks that one day, when he releases them, he can change direction at high speed like Derrick Ross, and he can also go straight to the mountains like Westbrook.

Now, the most important thing is... Before fully developing the physical fitness, we will accumulate sufficient skills and experience.

Talent is like a pool, technical experience, basketball wisdom are those channels for drainage. No matter how big the talent pool is, without these channels to drain it, there will not be much water left, but it will dry up with the passage of time and the exposure of the sun.

And the day after the Knicks beat the Hawks, the club officially announced the signing of Jeff Van Gundy.

The news of Van Gundy's return to New York instantly detonated the entire basketball world.

He once built a strong team in the Big Apple, leaving behind many images that New York fans will remember.

In particular, on May 30, 1998, the No. 8 seed in the East, the New York Knicks, met the top seed in the East Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. Towards the end of the first round, the Knicks' Larry Johnson pushed Heat center Mourning, and Mourning punched him. Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning got into a fight. Van Gundy ran into the field as soon as possible to pull the rack. In order to protect the player, in desperation, he hugged Mo Ning's thigh and was dragged a few meters away from the floor by the tough Mo Ning. After the game, reporter Buck described: "For a moment, Jeff was even taken off the floor by Mourning's feet, like a hammock. Since then, Van Gundy has been nicknamed "The Hammock." With sunken eye sockets and bloodshot eyes, this brawl made fans remember the image of this New York vampire forever.

It is worth mentioning that it is also this season. He led the Miami Heat, led by the lack of Knicks to eliminate the New York rebels and his teacher Pat Riley, and entered the Finals as the Black Eight. That year, he was 37 years old. To this day, it is still the youngest NBA coach to reach the Finals.

"The New York Gangs are back!"

The New York Times welcomed the return of Jeff Van Gundy with such a headline.

No matter what Rockets fans think of Van Gundy, Van Gundy's status has always been very high in the hearts of New York fans. He led Ewing, Starks, Oakley, Larry Johnson, and Sponeville to create an extremely glorious era in Knicks history.

At that time, New York played extremely tough, and was recognized as the most gangster team in the league.

And now, after the Knicks acquired Snoopy, drafted Matthews and James Johnson in a row, and traded Kirksimridge, their defensive temperament has also suddenly improved.

This has fans full of anticipation, after all, Jeff Van Gundy is known for his iron-blooded defense.

The professional basketball media also saw it as a deal to boost the Knicks' fighting power, and the arrival of Jeff Van Gundy would have the effect of increasing the authority of the coaching staff. The weak and rootless Herb Williams needed such a strong assistant coach to sit in the driver's seat.

However, there are also concerns about whether Snoopy will be able to make peace with the powerful Jeff Van Gundy.

The famous Duke Black, Bill Simmons bluntly unleashed a taunt in his column: "The time has passed when Snoopy covered the sky with one hand. Jeff Van Gundy is not as easy to manipulate as Herb Williams, and not as easy to use as D'Antoni and Isaiah Thomas. He wants to play that childish locker room politics in front of Jeff Van Gundy, and I guess he's going to be treated like a defensive coolie right away, averaging 48 minutes per game and not having a single shot. ”

What Bill Simmons said is what Chinese fans are worried about, and Chinese fans have deep stereotypes about the stereotyped, blunt head coach. He is considered a third-rate coach by Chinese fans, who only knows how to play the main force, lacks tactical changes, and no more on-the-spot scheduling every game except for picking up notes in the crumpled suit pocket.

In that voice, the Knicks lost the first game of their 09-10 season.

In the home game against the San Antonio Spurs, New York played very jerky. Their offense came to a standstill, with them scoring just 89 points that night.

This is known as typical Van Gundy-esque data.

However, the San Antonio Spurs on the opposite side scored 111 points. Among them, Tim Duncan scored 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Zach Randolph, who was opposite him, made 5 of 17 shots, had 14 points and 7 rebounds, and was of no standard.

Dugg didn't play as well as he should, shooting 4-of-15 from the field for 11 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

The shooting rate of the two inner and outer cores did not exceed 3 percent, and it was a fool's dream to win. What's more, the opponent is still the San Antonio Spurs.

After this match, Dugg tried to communicate with Zach Randolph. But Randolph left the locker room early, and he didn't see any idea of working with Duger.

He turned down three consecutive pick-and-rolls with Snoopy in the game, and he stayed in the depths of the box throughout the game, constantly singleing out Tim Duncan.

Duncan didn't lose weight in '09, and with his physique that used to be able to defend against sharks, Zach Randolph's singles efficiency was extremely ineffective. He also refused to pass the ball to his teammates on the periphery.

When the basketball reaches him, it stops automatically. At first, Gallinari, Wesley, Matthews, and the others were still running, and then they simply stopped and watched him writhe around.

There is no doubt about the damage to morale.

"He's already courting players."

Marbury told Dugg, "He wants Jeffries, David Lee, and Eddie Curry to be his helpers." ”

In addition to propaganda work, Lao Ma is also responsible for intelligence and the ideological dynamics of the players. He suggested to Dug: "Give him five games and if he continues with this uncooperative attitude, my advice is to adopt a locker room isolation strategy... Put him on the inactive list. Wait until the trading window opens, and immediately ask management to trade him. ”

Dugg pursed his lips, realizing that he had to tear off the mask of the 'good old man' for this matter.

He has clearly seen Zachrandolph's demands, and in the current situation, unity will be destroyed if unity is sought through compromise, and unity will be maintained if unity is sought through struggle.

"Jeff Van Gundy, don't you really want to move?"

Stephen Marbury has another concern: "Recently, Jeffries and Zach Randolph have been in close proximity to Stan Van Gundy. Apparently they were trying to tie up with Van Gundy's bald head. They even egged on Jeff Van Gundy to take Herb Williams' place. ”

Hearing this, Dugg smiled.

He didn't know why it had turned out like this, but when Jeff Van Gundy walked into the training gym, Jeffries and Zach Randolph went up to make friends for the first time, and they seemed to be having a good conversation.

And Dugg is not a person who likes to talk to people during training time, and he simply ignored Jeff Van Gundy.

Jeff Van Gundy didn't bother to say hello to Dugg either.

And, in the subsequent defensive tactical adjustments, Jeff Van Gundy made it clear: "We have to weaken Snoopy's role in the defensive system, and other players need to be added." ”

His words immediately made the players have some associations: Jeff Van Gundy can't be disgusted with Snoopy, right?

He then went on to highlight Zach Randolph's important role in the defensive system.

This gave Randolph the illusion that Jeff Van Gundy was someone to fight for.

As a result, he followed Van Gundy almost every day, and even his training became active.

Moreover, he has repeatedly promised to support Van Gundy as the head coach of the team, and he will definitely stick closely by his side to overcome obstacles for him.

When Jeff Van Gundy told Duge these flattering words on the phone at night, Duge felt numb. He didn't expect Zach Randolph to say those things.

"Now at least he's more and more aggressive defensively, so let him flatter you like that. Anyway, with one more person to flatter, you might be in a better mood. Dugg laughed and suggested Jeff Van Gundy.

Jeff Van Gundy said angrily, "Oh, no! It only makes my mood worse. ”

"I feel like I'm an FBI undercover agent right now, and I'm working for you, but they're using me as the biggest hole card to take you down. This is simply ridiculous. ”

Jeff Van Gundy said angrily, "Honestly, I've never seen anyone so stupid. As long as the head is a little more normal, none of them should set the competitor as you, he can't win this internal competition. ”

Dugg shrugged his shoulders, hoping that Randolph was just a momentary confusion.

……

[There will be more tonight]