Chapter 207 Blade 3 Released
"There's still some trading time left, so just say whatever you want to say now." Leiden said immediately after the meeting began.

Thibodeau said: "Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace are both in their prime years, and Mutombo is not getting enough playing time.

We have been sparing with him in the regular season, but once we meet the Pistons in the series, he will have to play at least 30 minutes.”

Ewing grunted, "I'm afraid it's a bit difficult. The defense in the series is more intense. The opponents are Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace, both of whom are fierce defenders. He is also sitting under the basket. I'm worried..."

"Rick?"

Raiden looked at Carlisle.

Rick Carlisle said thoughtfully: "The combination of the two Wallaces should be quite powerful. With Prince, Billups, Hamilton, and five defensive stalwarts, I believe their defense will rise to an extreme and severely suppress our offense."

This sentence made the atmosphere in the conference room tense. Everyone felt tremendous pressure, the pressure from the piston.

Carlisle continued: "Whether it's outside offense or inside offense, it will be restricted, and the connection between the inside and outside cores may be cut off.

As for Mutombo, he will face Ben Wallace. Ben Wallace does not attack, and he does not pose much of a challenge on the defensive end, so we actually do not need to worry about a strong confrontation between him and the double Wallace.

We have been using him sparingly, and his physical condition and fitness are still good. I think it should not be a problem for him to play more than 20 minutes per game in the series. "

Ewing nodded and agreed, "Yes, it will be much easier for Mutombo to fight against Wolverine in the interior."

Rick Carlisle said as he thought: "Their defense is too strong. Offense is the key. If we can't play on offense, we will lose."

"Rick, do you have any ideas?" Raiden asked.

Carlisle said: "Our offensive tactics are actually simple. The connection between Wolverine and Nash must not be cut off by them. As long as their offensive tactics are played, even if the Pistons' defense is strong, we have a chance to beat them."

Ewing said: "Rashid Wallace is handed over to the Wolverines for defense, so there is no need to worry about his offense. I don't think the Pistons' offense will be strengthened much, and the main thing to strengthen is defense."

Carlisle nodded and said, "So the key is whether our own offense can be played under their defense."

The group discussed for a long time but failed to come up with a plan on how to strengthen the system.

Because the Pistons' trade was so sudden, it was very difficult for the Knicks to come up with targeted reinforcement trades in such a short period of time.

Of course, there is also the idea of ​​strengthening the team. Trading Nash for Kidd, filling the gaps in the perimeter defense and strengthening the perimeter defense, there will be no problem beating this Pistons.

Also, trade for a younger All-Star center.

This is also very difficult. There are very few All-Star centers in their prime years. They are all superstars, the core and leaders of each team. Which team would be willing to trade them?
Rasheed Wallace was traded because he was too troublesome and difficult to deal with. The Trail Blazers had been fed up with him for so many years that they traded him.

At first, Layden also wanted to trade Rasheed Wallace, but he couldn't afford the chips. Unexpectedly, the Pistons spent a lot of money this time and caught the Knicks off guard.

The Pistons strengthened their roster with Rasheed Wallace, and the media immediately began analyzing the situation in the Eastern Conference.

ESPN reported: "Without the Roaring Warrior, the Pistons were already the league's top defensive team. Now with Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons' defense will surely be the best in the league, and both the Knicks and the Pacers will have a hard time."

TNT reported: "Once they meet the Pistons in the series, the Knicks' offense will be severely restricted by the Pistons' defense. The Pistons, who were eliminated by the Knicks last season, will have a chance to complete their revenge on the Knicks."

The New York media immediately responded to these reports.

"The two Wallaces are unable to limit the Wolverines' offense under the basket. After the Wolverines break down the Pistons' basket, they will put the Pistons' defense in the low post, and the outside players will get opportunities, thus breaking down the Pistons' defense." The New York Times reported.

Rick Carlisle was not fooled by the local New York media because he knew that once Nash was restricted, it would be difficult for the Wolverines to gain support.

What he needs is Nash's breakthrough with the ball and the passing tactic, not just standing outside and lobbing the ball to the Wolverines.

The difference between the two is huge. In the breakthrough and passing tactics, Nash's dribbling breakthrough can attract defense, share the defensive pressure for the Wolverines, and create singles opportunities.

Simply lobbing the ball in from the outside means watching Wolverine take on two or three at a time. When the Knicks completely lose their ability to break through with the ball from the outside, what awaits Wolverine is a dead end of one against four or one against five.

Fortunately, the Knicks still have an advantage, that is the depth of their bench lineup. The presence of Alan Houston is the key to the Knicks defeating the Pistons.

But sometimes, fate just likes to play tricks on us.

On the 20th, the Knicks will face the Jazz at home.

There is a game in the evening and the Knicks have an hour-long practice in the afternoon.

"Brush! Brush! Brush..."

Alan Houston kept making jump shots and had a very good touch. He made more than 20 shots in a row and kept making them.

On the court next door, several players were practicing tactical running, including He Zhongqiu.

While other teammates were practicing offensive tactics, he was practicing assisting defense and helping out on defense. When his teammates were running, he kept moving back and forth, either helping out or defending back to the basket.

According to the system prompts, he is also constantly gaining proficiency.

At this time, Alan Houston stopped, bent down and rubbed his knees.

"Alan, what's going on?"

Houston's actions immediately attracted the attention of the team doctor and several coaches.

"It's a bit astringent." Alan Houston said distressedly.

He has been training harder, but his knees are always giving him trouble, preventing him from enjoying his training to the fullest.

Seeing the team doctor examining Houston's knee, He Zhongqiu also walked over.

After the mid-range shooting king entered the bench lineup, he noticed a problem: Alan Houston's training volume was greater than before.

Houston's knee is an old injury, which is said to have started in 01 and recurs every year. With such a large amount of training, won't there be problems?

He knew a lot about tendons and bones. Alan Houston's knees were small and not strong, so he was prone to injury.

His knees are at least twice as big as Alan Houston's, strong enough to withstand great force.

There are only two months left in the regular season. If Houston continues to train like this, what if the injury recurs?
The Pistons strengthened their lineup with the addition of Roaring Thunder, and he also felt a lot of pressure. If Alan Houston gets injured again, it will be even more difficult for the Knicks to play against the Pistons.

"It's okay for now, no swelling."

At this time, the team doctor finished the examination and advised: "But Alan, if you continue to train like this, your injury will recur sooner or later. I suggest you reduce the amount of training."

He Zhongqiu also said immediately: "Alan, given your physical condition, excessive training will only have one result, which is to aggravate your injury.

I suggest you reduce the amount of training and just maintain your condition. One hundred shots a day are enough. You are doing at least five hundred shots a day now."

Alan Houston said sadly: "I hope to be in better condition and return to the starting lineup."

Everyone was stunned, and Rick Carlisle said earnestly: "Alan, putting you in the substitute lineup is not a problem with your condition, but a problem with the lineup configuration. The main lineup must have a stronger defensive force, do you understand?"

He Zhongqiu said honestly: "Alan, the coach means that no matter how good your condition is, you can only play as a substitute."

Alan Houston couldn't help but glare at He Zhongqiu. Even so, Wolverine, could you be more tactful in your words?

He Zhongqiu smiled awkwardly and said, "Alan, why don't we work together and make it to the finals this season?"

"The Finals?" Alan Houston stroked his left knee which was a little overwhelmed, then touched his right knee which was not much better, and suddenly sighed. He really wanted to play in the Finals again!

From that day on, he reduced his training volume and just did as He Zhongqiu said, throwing only a hundred balls a day.

However, just like an old machine, his knees still have problems from time to time, which not only troubles him but also the team. No one knows when his injury will break out.

In the following regular season, Mutombo's playing time became shorter, while several substitute inside players such as Harrington and Doriak had more playing time.

Even for He Zhongqiu, his playing time was controlled to a certain extent, with the average time dropped from 36 minutes to 34 minutes.

The Knicks' record has also been affected to a certain extent.

Fortunately, the Lakers and Spurs did perform poorly this season, and they had the same plan as the Knicks. They began to conserve their strength in the second half of the regular season, and the main players reduced their playing time, so the Knicks have maintained the best record in the league.

The Pistons, on the other hand, have seen their record improve slowly since acquiring Rasheed Wallace, but they are still lagging far behind and cannot catch up for the time being.

At the end of the month, the day after playing against the Clippers away, He Zhongqiu took a leave of absence and stayed in Los Angeles to attend the Oscars ceremony held at the Kodak Theater in the afternoon.

Although he has not achieved any success in Hollywood, he is still very popular when he appears on the red carpet.

At this awards ceremony, most of the A-list Hollywood stars knew each other, had a say, and felt at ease, like fish in water.

March 3st, Yanjing, China Film Corporation.

Han Sanping and the vice president of New Line Cinema signed a profit-sharing contract for Blade 3.

At present, there are two ways to introduce foreign films into China: one is to buy them out at a low price, and the other is to profit from the profits.

Currently, there are only 20 profit-sharing films introduced into China each year, which is a limit. This time, he wants to introduce Blade 3 in a profit-sharing manner and release it simultaneously with the rest of the world.

In the past, when we bought out foreign films, because there was no foreign exchange, most of them were low-budget films imported from second- and third-rate film companies for only US$20,000 to US$30,000, and the quality was not high.

Some high-quality blockbusters have also been introduced, but on average, these blockbusters will not be sold to China until more than nine years after they are released overseas.

After nine years, the market potential of these blockbusters has been completely exhausted, and when they are sold to China, there will be no need to worry about piracy.

This time, New Line Cinema took into consideration the piracy problem in China and only agreed to release the film in China one month after its global release.

……

On March 3th, He Zhongqiu came to Los Angeles again to attend the premiere of Blade 10.

He personally invited a group of Hollywood's top stars to support him, which added a lot of color to the premiere of Blade 3.

Although according to Ross Lewis, the box office of Blade 3 has little to do with him, he still cares very much about the box office.

New Line Cinema mobilized a lot of resources, and the film was shown in as many as 5562 screens in theaters.

In addition, Blade 3 was released globally.

On the same day, the film was also screened in European countries and regions such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, and Germany, with Asia and South America scheduled to follow two weeks later.

But China is not included.

The market has high expectations for this movie.

The trailer for Blade 3 had a very high hit rate on the Internet and ranked among the top ten of the year.

At the NBA All-Stars, Wolverine He Zhongqiu and Johnson Statham's martial arts performances were even more popular, and the click rate of related videos has entered the top five of the year.

There were long queues of people buying tickets outside many cinemas, and the volume of online ticket purchases was also very large.

On the 11th, Blade 3's North American first-day box office came out at 512 million U.S. dollars.

This data is only from last night. If it is the full-day box office, it would be at least 650 million US dollars, which immediately made New Line Cinema excited.

The major film review organizations and many film critics also gave their evaluations and recommendations of Blade 3 the next day.

On Rotten Tomatoes, 65% of film critics gave it fresh tomatoes, which also means that 65% of people recommend Blade 3.

This data is actually average, because as long as the recommendation rate is lower than 60%, it will become a pile of rotten tomatoes.

Judging from the recommendation data of Rotten Tomatoes, the quality of Blade 3 is indeed average and it is unlikely to be a big hit at the box office.

Fandango, an online ticketing agency founded in 2000, is a film review agency based on fan ratings. Of course, its main function is to purchase tickets online.

1212 people rated Blade III on Fandango, giving it three and a half stars.

In addition, many people left their own film reviews.

Such reviews as "boring plot", "old special effects", "I'm obsessed with Wolverine's Kung Fu", "I look forward to Wolverine replacing the protagonist in Blade 4", "Wolverine's moves are too cool" and so on.

From these film reviews, we can see that the quality of the entire movie is indeed average. The only highlight is Wolverine's kung fu performance. More than 80% of the reviews are about Wolverine.

The famous independent film critic Hans Rolem published his film review in his Yahoo column, in which he wrote:

"For Blade 3, I must give a review of the lackluster plot and unremarkable special effects. If there is still an urge for me to watch it a second time, it can only be the role of Wolverine.

In the film, Wolverine performed unique and difficult fighting scenes, which I must give as being very wonderful.

His fighting skills in the film satisfied my expectations of his Kung Fu skills, and I am very much looking forward to his new film."

"Boss, the reviews for your role in Blade 3 have been very, very good online and in the media, and in Hollywood as well, which is great!"

Ross Lewis called and said excitedly, “This will increase the anticipation of fans for your next movie.

In addition, Boston, several film companies that invested in us want to increase their investment, and they hope to create better special effects.

In addition, they hope to add two first-line stars, with Johnson as the second male lead and Charlize Theron as the female lead. "

"If their investment increases, doesn't that mean our control over the film will be weakened?" He Zhongqiu asked with some doubt.

Ross Lewis said: "Boss, they are several companies. I can't accept an increase in investment from one of them, so it does not affect the final actual control. This will also be involved in our negotiations."

He Zhongqiu thought for a while and said, "Ross, we still need to control the scale of investment. Don't make it too large. Although we only invest with film remuneration, if we lose money, my future development in Hollywood will also be affected."

Ross Lewis said: "I understand this, Boss, I only intend to increase the investment by a maximum of 2000 million US dollars, for a total investment of 8000 million US dollars.

With this investment amount, the movie will definitely make money as long as the North American box office can reach 4000 million US dollars.

And considering the current expectations of you in the film market, the first movie starring you should be able to achieve this box office."

Major cinema chains also immediately began to make adjustments, increasing the number of screens showing the film to 7211.

A week later, Blade 3's first week box office came out, with $3651 million, making it the box office champion in North America that week.

In addition, the total box office in the first week in the UK and other countries and regions where the film was released at the same time was 5162 million US dollars. This is a very good figure, indicating that the overseas market is better than North America.

(End of this chapter)