Chapter 128 I want to organize a Mahjong competition in the NBA

On the evening of the 28th, four G5 games started.

The Nets defeated the Bucks and got the match point with a score of 3 to 2.

The Digital Team lost to the Green Team, and the Green Team also got the match point.

The Mavericks, who had previously lost the chance to sweep the game, lost at home and lost another game, tying the Trail Blazers 3-2, but still holding the match point.

The Kings defeated the Jazz at home with a score of 4 to 1 and became the first team to advance to the second round.

After the Jazz were eliminated, a big news broke out at the post-match press conference that shocked the league.

The core of the Jazz, the locker room leader, and superstar mailman Karl Malone, because his contract has ended, a Salt Lake City reporter asked him when he would renew his contract with the team, but he said he had no plans to renew his contract with the Jazz for the time being.

This sentence immediately caused a sensation.

"Karl?"

The press conference ended hastily, with Karl Malone walking hurriedly in front and John Stockton chasing and shouting behind.

"Carl, are you really leaving? For the championship?" John Stockton chased for a while, suddenly stopped and shouted loudly.

Karl Malone also stopped, half turned to John Stockton and said: "John, I'm going to be forty years old soon, do you know what this means?"

John Stockton opened his mouth and said, "I'm already 41 years old. How could I not know what that means?"

"One person, one city, one person, one city..."

Karl Malone muttered, and suddenly said irritably: "I just want a championship, just one. Give me a chance, John, let me try. I don't want to retire without a championship like Barkley."

(Barkley: If you want to run, just run. Don't use me as a raft, okay?)

John Stockton was very disappointed. Is the championship really that important? Is it so important that he is going to retire and leave the team and city where he has fought for nearly 20 years?
He really couldn't understand Karl Malone.

……

At noon on the 29th, Yang Xue came back.

As soon as she came back, she said to He Zhongqiu, "Sanjin, Liu Yifei's mother is getting a divorce."

"Oh."

He was sitting at the dining table waiting for his meal and responded casually.

"Aren't you curious at all?" Yang Xue said with a smile.

"You're not divorcing me, why should I be curious?" he said.

Yang Xue couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard this.

"Sister Xue, I'm just curious, was it fun for you to spend two days with a little girl?" he asked.

"It's okay. We are senior and junior students. We get along well. She is quite simple." Yang Xue said.

He Zhongqiu curled his lips. The entertainment industry is full of fake sisters and brothers who are willing to die for you. Sister Xue, don't be so naive.

Yang Xue added: "Her mother divorced for her. In order to accompany her in the film and television industry, she had to live apart from her husband for a long time, so she had no choice but to decide to divorce."

"I know, I know."

He Zhongqiu waved his hand and asked Yang Xue to stop talking about this topic. He really had no interest in listening to these things.

He has no good feelings towards his mother. He never thinks his mother is great because he has never felt her greatness.

Dad is barely okay, after all, his dad raised him and he can take on the role of his dad.

……

Madison Square Garden in the evening.

Blah blah blah...

In the weight room of the home team's locker room, a mahjong game has already begun.

However, there are two fixed positions today, one is Yang Xue and the other is Michael Jordan. Yang Xue sits above Jordan.

Sitting in the corner to the left of Jordan was Ewing, and sitting in the corner to the right was Oakley.

He was invited by ABC TV to be the guest commentator for tonight.

It's just past six o'clock and the TV live broadcast doesn't start until eight o'clock. When I saw they were playing mahjong, I refused to leave and directly occupied a seat.

Sitting on the left corner of Yang Xue was the madman, and sitting on the right was Charlie Ward.

Charlie Ward and his people have lost a lot of money to Yang Xue these days. Although the money is not much, they are unwilling to admit defeat, so they want to learn from him.

Today's bet is not $50, but $200. This is Jordan's request. He thinks $50 is too small and meaningless. The last All-Star Game and the Mid-Autumn Festival bet were both $500.

Jordan glanced at the Knicks players who were watching and asked in confusion, "Why don't you open another table?"

"Wolverine doesn't allow it. He said we can only have one table, and each person can only play three hands at most. If you win, you can't play anymore. We can't let playing mahjong affect the game." Charlie Ward said.

“Good practice.”

Jordan nodded in understanding, then took out a twenty thousand dollar bill.

"What a fool."

Yang Xue, who was sitting above Jordan, took back the 20,000 and pushed the cards.

Jordan took a look and was surprised. It's the same color.
"Ha ha……"

"Michael, you fired the gun."

Charlie Ward and several others laughed.

The game started with a big win. Jordan depressedly ordered 1,200 dollars to Yang Xue and said unyieldingly, "Let's do it again."

Half an hour later, He Zhongqiu came in after changing his clothes. He asked about the situation and said with some regret, "It's too small. I should have called for a thousand dollars."

Jordan's face darkened when he heard this.

In half an hour, he didn't win a single hand of cards, didn't get any cards from Yang Xue, and just gave Yang Xue a lot of bad luck, losing five or six thousand dollars.

"Change seat, I want to sit above Yang Xue." he shouted.

"Hehe! Good."

Yang Xue agreed with a smile.

More than an hour later, at almost eight o'clock, he lost a total of 13,200 US dollars. He didn't win any cards, and NBA gambling god Michael Jordan retreated to the Knicks locker room in defeat.

Yang Xue won more than 22,000 US dollars and officially earned the title of gambling god in the Knicks locker room.

"Sister Xue, is the three-bedroom apartment enough?" He Zhongqiu asked after leaving the locker room.

"Just a little bit more." Yang Xue said with a smile.

"It's okay. There's still the second round of the series. You will definitely be able to get a four-bedroom apartment before you return home," he said.

"Sister Xue, how come you are so good at mahjong?" he asked again.

"My grandmother has been holding me and playing mahjong since I was born. I learned to play mahjong before I could walk," said Yang Xue.

"Ha ha……"

He Zhongqiu laughed and said, "When there is a chance, I will organize a Mahjong competition in the NBA and invite you to be a judge."

"Ha ha……"

Yang Xue laughed so hard that tears came out.

There were almost no stars in the two series in New Orleans, but here, it is star-studded, with several first-line stars and many second-level stars.

He Zhongqiu escorted Yang Xue to her seat and greeted the people he knew. "Hey, Jessica, good evening."

When he saw Alba, he greeted her with a smile.

Although he rejected this beautiful girl, he felt that she should thank him. Otherwise, it would not be Anne Hathaway who had kidney deficiency. With Alba's physique, she would be bedridden in half a month and might even suffer from kidney failure.

"Hey, good evening."

Alba smiled and shook hands.

"Hey, director, where's my role? I want to be the protagonist of your movie."

He Zhongqiu's eyes swept over Scarlett Johansson's head, and he bumped fists with Spike Lee with a smile, and said loudly.

Spike Lee laughed and said, "You know, Wolverine, I'm thinking of a script about your slam dunk, and you must be the protagonist."

"Great, I'm waiting for your script."

He Zhongqiu leaned over and hugged Spike Lee, then walked to the next person.

"Asshole, I will be your black for the rest of my life, or I will never grow taller in this life."

Being ignored by Wolverine again, Scarlett Johansson was so angry that she gritted her teeth and swore a huge oath.

Alba heard the grinding of teeth beside her and covered her mouth with her hands, laughing silently.

She also didn't understand why Wolverine always ignored Scarlett. She looked at the half-foot high heels on Scarlett's feet and wondered if she was too short?

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel depressed, because she heard from Anne Hathaway the reason why Wolverine rejected her. She was not much better than Scarlett, she was too flat and Scarlett was too short.

At eight o'clock, both sides announced their starting lineups.

Hornets: Jamaal Magloire, P.J. Brown, Jamal Mashburn, Baron Davis, David Wesley

Knicks: He Zhongqiu, Kurt Thomas, Sprewell, Alan Houston, Howard Ellis
The live broadcast begins on ABC-ESPN.

Michael Breen made an opening statement and then said, "Michael, do you think the Knicks can eliminate the Hornets tonight?"

Jordan said: "In fact, the Hornets are no worse than the Knicks..."

"Well, in the regular season, the Knicks have 48 wins and the Hornets have 47 wins. The Hornets' outside strength is stronger than the Knicks, especially defense," said Xiao Fan.

Nodding, Jordan continued, "So whether the Knicks can eliminate the Hornets tonight still depends on their performance on the spot and whether their tactics are reasonable."

"Where do you think the key point is?" asked Michael Brin.

Jordan said: "There are two key points. One is whether the Hornets' outside line can lock down Alan Houston and Sprewell.

Once locked down, with the Knicks' current perimeter defense unable to stop the Hornets' perimeter offense, the Knicks will lose."

Michael Brin and Xiao Fan nodded at the same time. They were locked in and couldn't defend against the opponent, so it would be strange if they didn't lose.

Jordan continued: "The second is the competition in the interior. The first of these is the control of rebounds, which is very critical."

After flipping through the stat sheet, Fan said, “In the regular season, the Hornets averaged three more rebounds per game than the Knicks, which is a huge difference.

But in the series, this gap was actually eliminated. Wolverine averaged 13.5 rebounds per game, 5 more than his average in the regular season, plus Kurt Thomas averaged 11 rebounds per game, which was a very good performance. "

Jordan nodded and said, "In addition to rebounding, the second is the restricted area defense, which is even more important than their low-post offense.

Because the Hornets have a lot of outside penetration, if the Knicks can't defend their restricted area, they will lose. "

"So in the last game, the Wolverines delivered 8 blocks, and the Hornets lost at home without any temper at all," said Michael Breen.

"Haha..." Jordan and Xiao Fan both laughed.

Michael Jordan then added: "Finally it's the low post attack. This is the Knicks' strong point against the Hornets.

In terms of low-post offense, Wolverine and Kurt Thomas are much better than P.J. Brown and Magloire. "

"So the key point is clear, the Hornets' outside and the Knicks' inside," said Michael Breen.

Jordan thought for a moment and said, “Wolverine played very well in this series. This is his first series, which proves that he has very good mental qualities.

Well, his mental quality is much better than Patrick's. Under his leadership, the atmosphere in the Knicks locker room is very good and very relaxed, which is conducive to the game. "

He really likes the Knicks locker room because he also likes to gamble a little before the game, which can relax him as much as possible.

Michael Breen said: "In the four regular season games, the two teams were tied with 2 wins and 2 losses. In the four series, the Knicks won 4 to 3. In total, the Knicks had 1 wins and 5 losses. In the three losses, the Wolverines did not participate in two of them.

Therefore, I think that if you want to compare the strength of the two teams, the two regular season games that the Wolverines did not participate in do not need to be counted. The actual win-loss record is 5 wins and 1 loss, and the Knicks have an absolute advantage. "

Xiao Fan also nodded and said, "Yes, the big score of 3 to 1 in the playoffs can actually truly reflect the strength of the two teams."

“Yes… … ”

Jordan nodded and said, "Wolverine averaged 24 points, 13 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game in the series. He helped the team gain an advantage in both offense and defense in the low post, so the Knicks were able to lead -."

……

At half past eight, the competition officially began.

"Snapped!"

He Zhongqiu jumped high and passed the ball to Ellis, and the Knicks attacked.

Entering the frontcourt, he settled down in the low post on the left wing and asked for the ball.

Magloire, who was not as strong as his opponent, did not take the initiative to fight back, but just defended closely.

On the sidelines, Don Cheney pointed to the low post and signaled for the pass to be made from the outside.

On the left wing, the madman received the ball and passed it in, then bypassed Byron Davis and quickly cut into the penalty area.

The Hornets still used a three-two zone defense, with each player guarding their own area and then double-teaming the person with the ball.

Mashburn was guarding the free throw line. When he saw Madman cutting inside after passing the ball, he ignored him and went straight down to double-team Wolverine.

Byron Davis did not chase the madman, but continued to stay in his defensive area. At this time, Ellis at the top of the arc ran to the left wing and entered his defensive area.

He Zhongqiu blocked Magloire with his left elbow, caught the ball with his right hand raised high, and suddenly threw it to the top of the arc before Mashburn's double-team arrived.

Alan Houston, who was running from the right wing, received the ball at the top of the arc. At this time, he had a small space because David Wesley was one step behind him and Baron Davis on the left wing was three meters away from him.

If it is a three-pointer in a double-team, he has no confidence at all. If it is a three-pointer in a one-on-one situation, he has a certain degree of confidence. Now it is a small open space, his confidence is not small, and he shoots very decisively.

After catching the ball, he stopped one step to the left, then jumped and shot. Even though it was a quick shot, the posture of his technical movements was very beautiful.

David Wesley flew in from the right side to block the shot, but was a foot too slow and the ball flew toward the basket.

"brush!"

A splash appeared and a three-pointer was made.

"Wow, the mid-range shooting king made a three-pointer on his first shot, beautiful!" Michael Brin exclaimed.

"We took advantage of Wolverine's containment in the low post to create open opportunities on the outside. The tactics were very clear and Wolverine got an assist." Xiao Fan said.

Jordan said: "Wolverine's assist ability is not outstanding, and the same is true for his tactical ability. He does not have the ability to become the axis and initiator of tactics. This tactic can be used once or twice, but not three times."

"Michael, I understand what you're saying."

Xiao Fan seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "To be specific, if the opportunity is not very good, if this tactic is used too often, he may make mistakes in a hurry, choose the wrong pass target, or delay the attack due to hesitation."

"That's what I meant."

Nodding, Jordan said: "After the Wolverine receives the ball in the low post, he should focus on personal offense. If he can play, don't pass the ball. Distributing the ball is secondary.

Because his low-post offensive skills are not very good, his offensive rhythm in the low post and on the wings is not fast enough except for the basket. If he keeps thinking about passing the ball, the offensive rhythm will be slower, giving opponents more opportunities to double-team him. "

(End of this chapter)