Chapter 120 Imitation of others
"Mistakes are fatal." Xu Jicheng shook his head.

Sun Zhenping said: "The Knicks' No. 1 position is not strong enough and they should get a point guard who is good at passing and ball handling."

Zhang Heli said: "If there is a point guard like that, he will eat so much mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival that he will vomit. He is not full now.

The Knicks don't have a guard who is good at passing the ball. The ball is in the hands of the mid-range shooting king and the madman, and they are not point guards.

The Suns' Stoudemire relies on dunks. He doesn't have the ability to play strong under the basket like Zhongqiu. Zhongqiu's regular season points are actually very valuable, much higher than Stoudemire's, so he deserves the title of best rookie."

Sun Zhenping said at this time: "Wait another two years, until Zhongqiu's skills are mastered, I'm afraid that the King of C-Volume and the Madman will be old.

So if the Knicks want to trade, they can do it now, otherwise they will have no help during the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"It's true." Zhang Heli nodded.

Xu Jicheng said: "Either we trade two young outside players with great potential now and let them grow together with Zhongqiu.

Or wait until Zhongqiu grows up, and then trade a few players in their prime years.”

On the court, in the next few rounds, under the shouts of the coaches from both sides, both teams strengthened their defense, and everyone's shooting percentage began to decline. He Zhongqiu also missed a close-range rebound shot.

With two minutes left in the first quarter, 25:26, the Knicks were leading by one point and called a timeout after serving the ball.

He Zhongqiu and other main players were substituted, leaving only Alan Houston, and the rest were on the bench.

The same thing happened with the Hornets, with only Byron Davis left.

After the first quarter, the Knicks led by two points at 28:30.

Zhang Heli said: "In the first 10 minutes of the Zhongqiu quarter, there were a lot of shots, 9 times, but 4 of them were second attacks, and there were only 5 receiving attacks, which is not a lot.

He made 9 of 6 shots, and all of the next 4 attacks hit the backboard, scoring two goals, which was pretty good luck.

There were almost no strong attacks under the basket in the first quarter, so his physical energy consumption should not be very large, which is relatively beneficial for the next three quarters. "

Xu Jicheng smiled and said, "He has indeed changed his style of play. He had two rebounds before, and in the first quarter he had 6 close-range rebound attacks, making 3 shots with a % hit rate. He was really lucky today."

孙真平道：“还有2罚1中，中秋得到了13分4篮板1盖帽1失误，首节没有犯规，这个不错。”

Zhang Heli said: "Today, the Hornets' offense was almost all completed from the outside. Magloire didn't have a single low-post offense, and it was difficult for Zhongqiu to foul."

"His offense is not good. He is only at the level of a third-rate center. He will definitely not be able to play in the Mid-Autumn Festival." Xu Jicheng said.

In the second and third quarters, the Hornets spared no effort to maintain the intensity of their perimeter defense while strengthening their double-team on He Zhongqiu, but with little success.

Because Alan Houston had a really good touch tonight and took a lot of shots, making 21 of 10 shots in three quarters, with a hit rate of 47.6%.

This shooting percentage is very good in the playoffs, and he scored 26 points in three quarters.

The mid-range shooting king was in such good shape and he was showing his strength from the outside. He Zhongqiu was asked by Don Cheney to position himself under the basket, attract the Hornets' defense, and create shooting space for the mid-range shooting king.

He didn't take many shots, but all of them were very strong attacks under the basket, repeatedly forcing his opponents to use foul tactics.

两节上场20分钟，6投4中，6罚3，拿到了11分，三节24分7篮板2盖帽1抢断2失误2犯规。

The performance of the two players made the Knicks lead by 70 points after three quarters, 78:8.

After the start of the final quarter, He Zhongqiu sat on the bench and did not go on the court. He rested for two minutes at the end of the third quarter. Don Cheney planned to let him rest for another two minutes before going on the court.

Alan Houston also sat on the bench, running out of energy due to too much offense.

But at the beginning of the final quarter, the Hornets, with all their main players on the court, began to counterattack and carried out high-intensity full-court pressing, disrupting the Knicks' formation.

In just over two minutes, the Knicks made three turnovers from the outside, and the Hornets launched a 80-78 attack wave. With nine and a half minutes left in the final quarter, the score was :, and the Hornets took the lead in one fell swoop.

After the Knicks served the ball, they called for a timeout.

"I'm surprised that the Knicks fans didn't boo. What was the reason?" Dream said while holding back a laugh.

"Ha ha!"

He didn't laugh, and Michael Breen couldn't help laughing, then he suppressed his laughter and said, "Well, maybe, wait a little longer? After all, we are only two points behind."

"Ha ha……"

Now Da Meng couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"hehe!"

Xiao Fan, an old man who was born in the Knicks, also smiled bitterly, but who can blame the Knicks fans for having this problem? Even Ewing was booed and he was ridiculed by Dream, and he couldn't refute it.

After the timeout, the Knicks' five main players came on the court, as did the Hornets.

"Howard, as long as Wolverine has a position under the basket, pass the ball in." Before going on the court, Don Cheney reminded Ellis.

Michael Breen said: "Among the five main players of the Hornets, David Wesley is 33 years old, Mashburn is 31 years old, Baron Davis just turned 24 years old, PJ Brown is 33 years old, Magloire is 25 years old, and the average age is 29.2 years old.

As for the Knicks' five main players, the mid-range shooting king is 32 years old, the lunatic is nearly 33 years old, Ellis and Thomas are both 30 years old, and Wolverine is almost 20 years old. The average age is 29 years old.

Comparing the two, the Knicks are actually younger, but this is because the Wolverines lowered the average age of the Knicks.

In fact, the Knicks have four players over 30 years old, while the Hornets only have three, so in terms of physical fitness, the Hornets are actually better.”

Xiaofan added: "Especially Baron Davis, who leads the Hornets' outside offense and defense, is full of energy and has more drive and desire than the madman and the mid-range shooting king.

He scored 16 points in the first three quarters, and in the last two minutes, he made two steals and scored another 6 points. He caused great trouble to the Knicks' already fragile perimeter defense. "

On the court, the Knicks started to attack and He Zhongqiu entered the basket.

"Zhongqiu, are you going to change your style of play and launch a strong attack under the basket?" Sun Zhenping asked.

Xu Jicheng analyzed: "It's possible. The situation of the army is unpredictable. When the opponent gets used to your style of play, you can adjust it in time, and you may get unexpected changes."

Zhang Heli nodded and said, "Anyway, strong offense under the basket is his strongest point, so there's nothing wrong with that."

After entering the basket, Magloire performed lateral defense and went around the front on the left side of the basket, with his left arm intentionally entangled with He Zhongqiu's right arm to implement close defense.

During the regular season against the Timberwolves, Garnett defended He Zhongqiu in this way. Now Magloire is also learning Garnett's method to deal with him. What will be the result?
He Zhongqiu raised his right elbow, pressed his right forearm against his opponent's chest, and used his powerful absolute strength to push him away a little.

Then, without waiting for his opponent to get close to him again, he pulled out his right arm, took a quick step forward, and crossed his arms to trap his opponent behind him.

Then he grabs the defender behind him with his right hand and uses his left hand to get the ball. At the same time, he adjusts his feet in time according to the movement of the defender behind him and traps the opponent behind him.

This is the difference in athletic talent between Magloire and Garnett. Facing Garnett's close defense, the result of He Zhongqiu doing this would be completely different.

Garnett would keep up with his rhythm when he took a step forward and stick to him again without being stuck behind him.

In his opinion, Magloire's close defense was just... an ugly imitation?
"Pinch attack!"

"Reinforce the defense!"

When Paul Silas saw that Magloire was stuck behind, he immediately started screaming.

He would rather let the Knicks' outside players get open space than see Wolverine play one-on-one at the basket, because he knows that Magloire cannot defend the physically powerful Wolverine alone.

PJ Brown in the low post on the right wing turned around and rushed in, and at the same time Howard Ellis, two steps outside the top of the arc, lobbed the ball in.

"here!"

Kurt Thomas, one step inside the right corner, yelled and waved toward the top of the arc for the ball, but Ellis passed it to the basket.

He saw someone rushing towards him out of the corner of his left eye. They must be coming in to double-team him. He Zhongqiu felt that this was not a good idea. If he stood to receive the ball, he was afraid that it would be intercepted.

He saw the basketball sliding down, and immediately took a step forward and jumped high, grabbing the ball from high in the air before PJ Brown arrived.

While sliding forward, he completed a turn in the air, so when he landed, he had changed from facing the basket with his back to the basket.

However, it is a bit far from the basket, just over four meters, and just half a step below the free throw line.

At this moment, PJ Brown rushed to Magloire's side, and the two formed a double ghost guarding in front of the basket, but no one had time to rush over, and He Zhongqiu got a considerable open space.

The next moment, he put his left hand on his waist, and without jumping, he threw the ball towards the basket quickly with his right hand, with the ball's path following a flatter arc like a lob.

This relatively flat arc is actually very easy to be blocked, but because it was an open space and no other offensive technical moves were required, the pace was fast and his rebound speed was even faster, preventing the two players under the basket from reacting.

"Bang! Swish!" The basketball hit the white basket and bounced off, crashed into the basket, and then hit PJ Brown's head.

PJ Brown and Magloire looked at the basket, then looked back at Wolverine who was laughing triumphantly, and were a little dumbfounded.

"Oh ho!"

The whole audience suddenly cheered.

"WC!"

When Zhang Heli saw He Zhongqiu's shot, he burst into swearing and didn't even have time to cover his mouth.

"Haha, this should be the most relaxed and most impressive shooting posture, right?" Xu Jicheng laughed.

"This shot was really unexpected!" Sun Zhenping also laughed.

In the commentary booth nearby, Dream joked: "I think O'Neal would really like to learn this technique."

Michael Breen quipped: "This should be the most amazing shooting technique. There is no more amazing one than this. I suggest Shaq learn it."

"Ha ha……"

Xiao Fan's scalp wrinkled with laughter. He looked at the statistics and said, "16 of 11 shots, 8 of 4 free throws, Wolverine has 26 points.

He also scored 1 points in Game 26. He should have a chance to score 30+ points in a single playoff game for the first time in his career tonight."

80-all, Hornets attack.

"Defense! Focus your attention..." Thibodeau shouted loudly.

PJ Brown and Byron Davis performed a pick-and-roll on the right wing. Davis took the opportunity to break through. Kurt Thomas switched defense in time, and Davis passed the ball back to PJ Brown.

PJ Brown faced Alan Houston's defense and shot calmly.

"Bang!"

The ball was a little short, bounced back and was caught by He Zhongqiu.

"It missed. Zhongqiu got the rebound in the backcourt and passed it to Ellis. It's almost time to go off the court." Zhang Heli continued to explain.

"The tactic was successful and we got the advantage of the mismatch, but the touch was a little poor." said Xu Jicheng.

"The success of the tactics shows that the Knicks still failed to defend it. Their perimeter defense is really a big problem," said Sun Zhenping.

"When Ewing and Oakley were in charge, that is, when Pat Riley and Van Gundy were in charge, the Knicks' defense was one of the best in the league."

As Zhang Heli spoke, he pointed at Xiao Fan who was sitting in the commentary booth next to him.

Sun Zhenping suddenly had an idea and said, "Coach Zhang, has General Manager Xia managed to get Thibodeau? If not, you can ask Van Gundy Jr."

"Not yet. Thibodeau said he will decide after the playoffs. But Mr. Sun, your suggestion is good, haha!" Zhang Heli said.

The game continued until the 10th minute of the final quarter, when the Knicks attacked.

"boom"

Alan Houston attacked with the ball on the right wing, and He Zhongqiu cut to the basket from the weak side left wing, received the pass and completed an alley-oop slam dunk.

This was also his fourth shot in the final quarter and his third goal of the quarter.

After the screen call, his scoring data for the game was played out: 19 of 13 shots, 8 of 4 free throws, 30 points in three quarters, the first 30+ in a single game in his career postseason.

"Clap clap clap..."

There was warm applause in Madison Square Garden.

95:95, the two teams took turns leading, and after the game was tied again, the Hornets called a timeout early, with 107 seconds left in the game.

Xiaofan said: "Congratulations to Wolverine, the first 30+ in the playoffs."

"Congratulations, but if the Knicks can't win at home, then this statistic means nothing," Dream said.

Michael Breen said: "In the final quarter, our physical strength declined, everyone's touch was not good, no one could play an advantage, the game was quite tense!"

Dream couldn't help but complain: "Especially the mid-range shooting king Alan Houston, he played well in the first three quarters, but had big problems in the last quarter.

3 out of 0 shots. If it weren't for Kurt Thomas' two shots, the Madman's two shots, and the Wolverines' three shots, I'm afraid we would have fallen behind."

Paul Silas, squatting on the floor in front of the Hornets' bench, whispered, "Full-court press, I don't care how tired you are, I want to see them make mistakes, OK?"

"OK."

The players panted.

On the Knicks bench, Don Cheney arranged the offensive tactics and then handed over the defensive tactics, which he was not good at, to Thibodeau.

The perimeter defense is like a sieve. Thibodeau is helpless because he has no resources and can only bite the bullet and arrange defensive tactics.

Because the Hornets' offense today was mostly led by their youngest player, Byron Davis, so his defensive focus was on Davis.

He asked Alan Houston to defend the first line, point guard Ellis to double-team the outside, and if Davis succeeded in breaking through, the inside line should make up for the deficit in time.

The defensive requirements are actually all old routines. Several outside players are veteran players, and everyone knows that if they can do it well, it is good defense. Unfortunately, due to this or that reason, they just can't do it well.

After the timeout, the Hornets did not make any substitutions, but the Knicks replaced Ellis with Charlie Ward.

The Hornets attack and serve from the backcourt.

Byron Davis quickly advanced to the three-point line near the right sideline, not giving the Knicks a chance to double-team from the outside, and continued to break inside.

Alan Houston was nine years older, and it was the final quarter, so he was no match for his opponent in terms of speed and stamina, and fell behind.

Knowing that Baron Davis was good at pull-up jump shots, Kurt Thomas didn't dare to stay at the right waist position, so he moved out and tried to establish a second line of defense outside the paint area and double-team the ball handler with Alan Houston.

At this time, He Zhongqiu also defended from the left side of the basket to the basket.

At the same time, on the weak side of the left wing, while the madman's defensive attention was attracted to the strong side, the Hornets' boss Mashburn quietly bypassed him and cut into the penalty area through the left elbow area. When the madman found out and chased him, he had fallen behind.

The next moment, before Kurt Thomas could defend Byron Davis, Davis had already passed the ball.

Under the basket, He Zhongqiu turned around suddenly and saw that Mashburn, who was supposed to be on the left wing three-point line, was only two steps away from him.

The next moment, he took two steps sideways and adjusted his feet to the left front side of the basket.

At this time, Mashburn had already caught the ball and was flying in the air.

The game has come to this point, He Zhongqiu doesn't want to lose. If he loses, it will be one to one, and if he wins, it will be two to zero, the difference is too big.

"Want to detain me? You're looking for death!"

The next moment, he jumped up with all his strength.

There were several hoops above his head, and his hands instantly stretched across the air, more than two feet above the hoops, completely blocking the space in front.

He believed that Mashburn's dunk would never be successful because he was already looking down at Mashburn in the air, and he could block Mashburn's shot even if he made a jump shot.

But the next moment, when I saw Mashburn making a layup, I couldn't help but exclaim "WC" because the layup was too damn high.

Mashburn was also shocked by the Wolverine's jumping height, but fortunately he didn't dunk much. Instead, he was a small forward who mainly shot from the outside. He had versatile skills and could turn dunks into throws very smoothly.

But he couldn't jump as high as He Zhongqiu, and his vision was blocked by He Zhongqiu's head and arms, so he could hardly see the basket and could only throw the ball based on his feel.

In order to avoid being blocked, the arc of the ball is very high, completely exceeding the normal arc and height of the shot.

"Oh!"

"Bang!"

The next moment, the basketball slid down, hit the backboard, then bounced back onto the basket and bounced high again.

(End of this chapter)