The second round of the Pistons vs. Bulls became the focus of the battle in the East, and the focus in the West was the "Bull and Horse War" between the Mavericks and the Spurs.

David? Stern asked management to look into the changes to the format next season, with the initial plan being for the division champions to lock in only the top four.

At best, the fourth place will be worse than the fifth, and there will be no early meeting of the strongest teams in the second round.

If you don't change, you won't be able to, the unfairness is small, and the impact on the alliance to make money is big.

The strength of the Heat against the Pacers is quite close, and the Suns beat the Clippers to earn, and these two teams have no strength to enter the Western Conference Finals at all. Whoever gets in is lucky, and the Western Conference Finals are likely to get very boring.

The Pistons' early elimination of the Bulls is not what the league wants to see, and the popularity of the players is too far apart. Fans love the Bulls, especially Chinese fans will definitely support Wang Jun. Who would support the Pistons other than Detroit fans?

Experts predict that the two sides are likely to play seven games, with a 3-1 regular season record and a Pistons lead, but the Bulls played well in the first round of the playoffs and have a chance to advance.

Before the war, the war of words between the two teams was already in full swing.

Ben Wallace was quite dismissive of the Cavaliers, saying in an interview: "Just because the Bulls can sweep the Cavaliers doesn't mean they can beat us. The Cavaliers have poor bench players, and our bench players are just as good as the starters. ”

Rashid? Wallace said: "If you want to win a championship, you have to rely on defense, you can score 10,000 points, but if your opponent scores 10,000 points, then you still lose." ”

The reporters shook their heads and sighed: It's terrible not to go to school, 10,000 to 10,000, this is fighting defense?

Wang Jun did not shy away from his opponent's edge. After hearing Big Ben's words, he smiled: "The Pistons' bench players are just as strong as the starters, I agree with this statement." They all seem to be about the same as Ben Wallace in their ability to shoot free throws inside. ”

Mark Hill, a 26th pick in the first round, is shooting 33.3 percent from the free-throw line this season. McDyce's 55.7% isn't good either. The most amazing is Rashid? Wallace seems to have been infected when he entered the playoffs, shooting only 56.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Wang Jun's words reached the ears of the Pistons players. Angered everyone.

On May 5, Skyles convened an all-hands meeting to discuss countermeasures, and watched the video of the Bucks' victory to find each other's weaknesses.

After watching the game in its entirety, Skels exclaimed, "There are three main points that I want to beat the Pistons. One is that their offense is flawed, so I'm going to lower the number of rounds and ensure success on the offensive end. Second, Ben Wallace made terrible free throws, and if he got to the basket, the perimeter player had to foul in time. Send him a free throw. Third, the Pistons don't have a good defense at every point, and Hamilton is prone to being blown up by opponents with great physique, so if the big man is misplaced against him, he has to be bold. ”

Skyles thought for a moment and asked, "Wang, do you have anything to add?" You beat the Pistons with the Nets in 2004. ”

Wang Jun stood up and said: "I think the Pistons also have a weakness, except for Rashid and Ben, other people are not good at defending breakouts inside. In the second quarter, if the breakthrough offense is strengthened, it may have a good effect. ”

How the Nets beat the Pistons back then, Wang Jun still remembers vividly, and it was no problem to pull Jefferson out of Hamilton.

"That's a good point." Skyles nodded.

The Bucks' win over the Pistons was also a lot of breakthroughs. Relying only on the outside shooting the Pistons has a way to reduce the shooting percentage.

The strength of the bench starters is about the same, which is more appropriate to evaluate the Bulls. Especially in the small forward position, Lore Deng and Nocioni have no problem starting either. As long as Wang Jun attracts the Prince defense, they can single Hamilton.

The pistons also met to study how to play. It's about the same as in the regular season, let Prince defend Wang Jun. Mix defense, pay attention to switching defenses on the inside.

Sanders' only headache was at center, and Ben Wallace was terrible, dropping his playoff stats to 4.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 blocks.

Against Bucks rookie Bogut, Ben Wallace didn't show any advantage, and the opponent didn't need to foul him. He shot a hilarious 27.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Such a rough brother actually had the confidence to quarrel with the management, claiming to leave without a high salary.

Sanders felt that Chandler, who replaced him with the Bulls, could improve his overall strength a lot, at least Chandler's free throws were not so bad that the coach wanted to curse.

The Pistons have their last chance to win a championship this year, and both Sanders and Joe Dumas know that if this roster can't win again, they will have to consider rebuilding next season.

On the 7th, the first battle between the two sides began at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The players didn't say hello when they appeared, and during the star game, the three Pistons didn't give Wang Jun a good look.

Hamilton watched Wang Jun warm up and shoot in his own half, and his face was ugly.

When Wang Jun first entered the league, Hamilton didn't take him seriously at all, believing that he was the best off-ball defender in the league.

As a result, three years have passed, and Wang Jun has won the scoring title by relying on the combination of off-ball play and ball-on-ball. Hamilton is still just an ordinary 20+ player, a second-rate star.

Without Wang, Hamilton might have been selected to the All-Star Game this season, but he didn't hate Wang, but regretted that he had taken the wrong path.

His time has been spent on exercising his physical strength and shooting, and he has always insisted on playing without the ball, and has never thought about further honing his dribbling skills and strengthening his physique.

Many people are born with good physical fitness, but the technique is definitely not comprehensive, and everyone is acquired. In the past, Hamilton felt that players with the ball were laborious, and not necessarily as efficient and complacent. Now that I think about it, isn't this a kind of lack of progress?

Is there a superstar in history who is not technically comprehensive? Even O'Neal's low footwork and dribbling are excellent, rather than just playing with his body. If Yao Ming only relies on his height to play, he will definitely not become a star, and his excellent footwork and shooting touch are the reasons for his success.

Hinrich observed Billups, and swore in his heart that he could no longer be prevented from saying anything today.

The media analyzed this series, competing in several positions, and believed that the Bulls had the advantage of the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, and the center positions were equally strong, and the No. 4 and No. 1 positions were at a loss.

This statement made Hinrich very unhappy, he also wanted to be a star, and in the playoffs, Wang Jun reduced his shots, and the opportunity to perform came, and he had to seize it.

The starters of both sides stood in the middle of the court, and Zhang Li was surprised: "Today, the Bulls adjusted the lineup, and Hayes started, this is going to be a surprise." ”

Yu Jia analyzed: "Hayes is short and does a better job of breaking through with defenders, he should be responsible for defending Rashid? Wallace, David Lee defends Big Ben, this adjustment is very interesting. ”

The other four Bulls starters are David Lee, Lore Deng, Wang Jun, and Hinrich.

Pistons starters: Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Rashid, Ben Wallace.

Big Ben and Hayes jump ball. Since Big Ben didn't get an explosive hairstyle today, he showed his real height, which was only about two meters, and Hayes was even shorter.

TN*T Radio also broadcast the game live, and Barkley laughed. "It's a milestone moment, the battle for the shortest starting center in NBA history, what is the saying in China? A tooth for a tooth, a short for a short. (China doesn't have such a thing!) ）

PS (To be continued.) )