Chapter 71: The Impossible
The Nets didn't call a timeout, the offense has been initiated by Kassel, and Calypari will do nothing else but be good at using point guards. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info
If Yang Rui is replaced as the coach, at this time, the team will definitely consider letting Casal organize the main body, cover Kittels on the inside side, catch and shoot, or play Ewing in a misplaced position.
Kittels was selected by the Nets with the 8th pick in 96, and before he was seriously injured, the ball was elegant, the breakthrough was sharp, and the three-point cold arrow made people feel like a mosquito's pinprick piercing the opponent's skin, and he scored without making a sound, and the fans gave him the nickname "Mosquito".
He shot 41.8 percent from three-point range this season and shot equally well from mid-range, but Calipari didn't help him with his tactics at all, averaging 1.4 of 3.4 three-point attempts per game for 1.4 points and 17.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
With Kittels as the core offense, relying on excellent shooting, at least Ewing can be removed from the basket, and his teammates will also benefit from it.
Cassel excelled individually, turning his back and making jumpers, stepping back and scoring against defenders. But he is mainly a two-point shot, with average efficiency, and the connection with his teammates has been cut off, and he can't lead the whole team.
In the first quarter, the Knicks scored eight and 11 points respectively to lead the team to a 32-17 lead.
In the second quarter of the bench battle, the Knicks sent Atkins, Starks, Mills, Ben Wallace, and Oakley.
Charlie Ward, the starting player of the regular season, continued to sit on the bench, which was arranged by Yang Rui. Nets backup point guard Sherman Douglas is 183cm tall and very flexible, making Atkins, who is similar in size, better at home defense than Ward and Childs.
In the regular season, the Knicks lost to the Nets once, and it was Sherman who unexpectedly scored 19 points and 8 assists and led the bench.
The Nets sent Williams and Gatlin to withstand the Knicks' attack, but they couldn't catch up with the score, and the Knicks defended it tightly.
The playoffs are more confrontational than the regular season, and both blue-collar Knicks have a lot to play.
Oakley is a true tough guy who is constantly looking for physical duels to disrupt the rhythm of his opponent's attack. This defensive style of bullying people with a soft style of play is still useful for the macho man, but the result is often that after the game, both of them are bruised, and Oakley still enjoys it.
Ben Wallace, Oakley's apprentice, is the same way, and he didn't back down in the face of Williams, who was selected as an All-Star.
Oakley restrained the skinnier Raheem Sterling on the defensive end, while Big Ben struggled a bit.
At 4 minutes, Big Ben ate an iron elbow while defending Williams and fell heavily to the ground, he showed the quality of a beast, and immediately got up, the referee did not blow, he did not argue, and continued to fight with Williams, who was heavier than himself, and grabbed the board, and fought for every inch of land.
In fact, Yang Rui doesn't like players like Oakley and Ben Wallace very much, because their offense is too poor, especially when they don't make free throws.
Yang Rui has to admire them, because they are like fighters who never back down, competing for the basket position, and when grabbing rebounds, they seriously seem to be fighting for the border of the country, and this hard work can infect the whole team.
They will twist their arms with their opponents, keep pushing against each other's waists, and even if they run between the marches, they will be accompanied by tugging, staggering and doing every movement, helping the team with a "cash" way.
In the third quarter, the Nets shot from the outside and clung to the score, and if the Knicks didn't open by surprise, it would not be easy to beat them by a big margin.
In the final quarter, the Knicks star was powerful and finally pulled the score away, and the physical advantage of the players began to appear. The Nets have only eight main rotation players, but the Knicks' bench can withstand the counterattack of the Nets' main team in a certain period of time.
Van Horn was so poor on the defensive end that Kalipari didn't dare to use him, only letting him play just over 10 minutes. Veteran center Ronnie Sekari came in a mid-game trade from the Magic and his playing time was just as short.
Secali was the first Lebanese to land in the NBA, and in the 1993 Heat game against the Washington Bullets, he grabbed a staggering 34 rebounds, setting a franchise record for individual rebounds in a single game.
The Nets traded Secali to improve their performance in the second half of the regular season to avoid the Knicks in the first round, but failed.
Sekari has recorded a double-double in five consecutive seasons, averaging 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the Magic last season, and has played in 47 games for the Magic this season, with 15 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He's a good player, he's got a lot of feet in the low post, he's nicknamed "The Dancer", and he's marked by a low turn.
However, this is useless, Calipari will not use Secali at all, he is just a blue-collar worker in the Nets, 211CM tall, weighing 104 kilograms, and the data has dropped to 4.7 points and 4 rebounds.
After five minutes in the final quarter, the Knicks led by 27 points at 103-76, and the victory was decided.
Nets manager Ed Stefansky didn't want to see the end, so he turned off the TV in frustration, and the phone rang, it was owner Alan Cohen.
"Ed, are you watching tonight's game?" Cohen asked.
"Yes." Ed replied weakly, knowing that the owner had been considering selling the team since the beginning of the season, and this season he was recruiting for a last-ditch effort, partly to increase the value of the team.
As soon as the boss changes, the manager is likely to change as well, and it will be difficult for Ed to sit in this position next year.
Cohen said lightly: "Although the Nets are likely to be swept by the Knicks in the first round, Lewis Kaze is interested in the Nets and wants to take over. The NBA should be shut down in the summer, so there's still a chance you'll stay. ”
"Thank you......" Ed thought it was just a word of comfort. If there is a shutdown, just no trading players are allowed, and the new owner has a lot of time to find a new manager.
Cohen smiled: "I'm not calling to comfort you, but to tell you the good news, if you can do this, 100 percent will continue to be a manager on the Nets, that's what Lewis meant, he wants you to poach someone in the summer." ”
Ed ignited his hope and asked excitedly, "Who does he want?" As long as I'm not a superstar, I'll try to get it done before draft day, did he say that he had to keep anyone on the team? If you don't have enough chips, it's not easy to trade. ”
He didn't want to leave the Nets, and with his terrible work experience, it was very difficult to find another job as a general manager.
"He doesn't need a bargaining chip, he wants to change the manager and find a free agent to replace Calipari. This man is very young, and now that the Knicks are an assistant coach, as long as he is offered a long-term contract, he is likely to agree, and then he does not have to leave New York. Cohen laughed: "I think you should have guessed who it is, and if Jerry Young coaches the Nets, it would be a good gimmick." ”
Ed took the phone and petrified on the spot.
Yang Rui was driven away by him and Kalipari at the beginning, and he didn't look like a person who would eat back grass, so it would be good not to ridicule him.
"Hey, are you listening? Why don't you speak? Hey......"
It's an impossible task, and Ed feels like his manager has done his job.