Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

“I don’t feel like the Boston Celtics are losers.

In my opinion, they have what it takes to get out of the Eastern Conference Finals and win the championship.

They just met us, a team that also has championship potential, in advance.

There is only one championship team every year, but there are many teams chasing the championship.

Just because they fail to achieve their goals doesn't mean they are failures.

Do you agree? In the regular season, the Boston Celtics are better than us!

I think they are good enough and if it were the past few seasons, they would have a great chance of winning the championship trophy.

Now that they lost to us, it’s just that we have more experience in winning in the playoffs.

So, there's nothing unacceptable about them losing to us.

Losing is also an experience. If they absorb and use it well, they will grow further and become stronger.

I believe they can win a championship, they are a great team, they have a lot of history.”

After defeating the Celtics and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, Duane was interviewed and did not add insult to injury to the Celtics who had already been eliminated. Instead, he took the initiative to save their reputation and even praised and encouraged them.

After all, belittling your opponents only cheapens success.

What's more, for Duane, even if he can win the championship this year, he may not have the opportunity next year.

After the next season, even if Duane does not retire, he will not be able to cause any waves in the league.

Then, it's time to consider retirement and reputation after retirement.

There is actually no need to worry about a successor.

However, it is still necessary to be optimistic that the Celtics can win the championship, prove one's own vision, and give fans more room for imagination.

In Duane's opinion, the two rookies have just entered their prime not long ago. As long as the Celtics maintain this team and rely on the celebrities and veterans of major teams to continuously supply star veterans and complete the championship puzzle, they will always have a chance to win the championship.

It has to be said that Duane showed such a graceful side after the game that the two rookies, who were originally at a loss as to what to do, breathed a sigh of relief.

The league's top favorite to win the championship was easily swept 4-1 by the Bulls, who were in their second year of reconstruction and had a combination of old and young players.

With the team's bench lineup being the best in the league, the reason for this is definitely that the two rookies, the dual core, are a little bit lacking and their performance was unsatisfactory in this series.

I have been falling in the same place for several years in a row, and there is no hope in sight.

If this continues, perhaps the Celtics will have the idea of ​​replacing the core of the team.

However, if we really look at the entire league, there are not many players stronger than Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Players like Jokic and Antetokounmpo are the cornerstones of the team and cannot be traded.

In this case, if one of the Celtics' two rookies is replaced, or if both are traded, it would undoubtedly be self-destructive.

However, problems have arisen, are very serious, and have existed for a long time without being improved. The team management, players and even fans will become anxious and will want to try any possible means to remedy the situation.

Dunn's response solved some of the urgent problems.

After learning about this, the two rookies quickly admitted that they were not as skilled as others and lost to Durant, Jokic and Curry.

It is not shameful for a superstar without a regular season MVP to lose to a historical superstar.

Sometimes being able to admit it generously and accept it humbly can actually help you gain more recognition.

Of course, if the two top picks were rookies under four-year contracts, they would express a completely different attitude, saying that they would definitely catch up next year, complete their revenge, and reach the top of the league.

The media and fans all like this kind of youthful and passionate script.

But reality is often very different from the script.

Failure is always present in life. Even among the historical superstars, there are those who have more losses than wins in the playoffs and whose winning rate in the finals is less than half.

Therefore, the greatness praised by the media and fans does not lie in winning games or championships, but in climbing to the top again after falling to the bottom.

I've been to the top of mountains and I've been to the bottom of valleys, and I've benefited a lot from both!

Great players often learn from their failures and grow through their experiences.

Having his head shaved in the finals and then deciding to seek out other superstars for support can be considered a form of growth.

Of course, some people have not grown enough, so even if they work together, they cannot get satisfactory results.

But some people don’t need to take shortcuts, they can climb to the top step by step and enjoy the most beautiful scenery.

The Bulls have a strong foundation thanks to Duane's intervention, so they are going through such a process again after only two years.

However, if he wants to succeed and achieve another great achievement, he must first defeat his current opponents one by one.

The Celtics are not the only team that is a favorite to win the Eastern Conference this year. The strength of the defending champion Bucks should not be underestimated.

After the Bulls had been resting for three days in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks cleanly defeated the 4ers with a score of 2 to 76 and quickly came to meet the Bulls.

On the evening of May 5, Game 22 of the Eastern Conference Finals officially kicked off at Fiserv Plaza Arena in Milwaukee.

Although it is the Bucks' home court, about one-third of the fans tonight were wearing red Bulls jerseys.

If the Bucks hadn't just won the championship last year, which boosted the confidence of Milwaukee's local fans, perhaps most of the people in the arena tonight would be Bulls fans.

However, the current situation also reveals the helplessness of small-market teams.

The city's economy is in recession, and fan support is far less than that in big cities. The boss doesn't make much money and can't put out much money to help the team achieve results.

In such a small city, the commercial value and off-field income of the star player are far lower than those in big cities. In this case, it is really commendable that he can endure loneliness and have the ability to help the team win the championship.

"Pass the ball to Giannis!"

"MVP! MVP! MVP!"

"Defend, defend, defend!"

In the first half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the two teams played fairly evenly, but in the third quarter, the role players on the Bucks side suddenly lost touch. They had wide-open three-point shooting opportunities, but their shots were more outrageous than the other.

In the past few seasons, the main area where Antetokounmpo has improved, besides shooting, is passing.

Of course, his off-ball skills have also been developed. If there is a top point guard as a helper, Antetokounmpo is happy to receive the ball and finish at the basket.

But unfortunately, top point guards are scarce these days, and the Bucks also need Antetokounmpo to score with the ball and pass the ball to help his teammates get better shooting opportunities.

In the first half, Antetokounmpo played according to the tactics. Although he did not play at his best, he played well.

The second half was still played with the same style, but the role players performed poorly and the score gradually widened.

In this situation, there is nothing Antetokounmpo can do.

Just like the fans at the scene were anxious, they could only take the ball and rush to the basket, try to finish at the basket, or create damage and stand on the free throw line.

When the Bulls saw that the Bucks were at their wit's end and were forced to rely on Antetokounmpo to score on his own, they quickly adjusted their defensive positions and strengthened protection of the restricted area.

As strong as Olajuwon is, he couldn't play well when faced with a double-team from the front line and the shrinking defense in the interior, not to mention that Antetokounmpo's shooting is not as good as Olajuwon's.

Although today's rules are more conducive to breakthroughs, the basket is full of people, and the shooting percentage at the basket will naturally decrease if you only rely on lobs and hook shots.

What's more, there are too many people on the breakthrough road, and sometimes the ball is taken away halfway before Antetokounmpo can get to the basket.

Faced with this level of defense, Antetokounmpo couldn't just keep rushing to the basket with the ball. Instead, he played like he did in the first half, passing the ball when he was double-teamed, to see if his teammates' touch could improve.

Keep shooting in wide open spaces, and it is inevitable that your touch will improve.

However, the Bulls players on the court are not there to sit back and watch as the Bucks role players recover their touch and catch up with open three-pointers.

Before the Bucks' role players woke up, the Bulls relied on their continuous offensive to quickly establish a lead of nearly 20 points in the third quarter.

Moreover, the Bulls kept speeding up, forcing the Bucks to run back and forth, raising their heart rates.

Why is Curry's shooting so stable? It's because he has the league's top cardiopulmonary capacity. Even if he runs a marathon on the court, he can catch the ball and shoot.

The vast majority of NBA shooters do not have this ability. Once they enter a fast-paced offense and defense game, their shots are likely to be inaccurate.

In the third quarter, the Bucks' role players were already very strong, but the Bulls still threw them off rhythm and they were extremely physically exhausted.

So, in this case, even if there was a wide-open three-point opportunity, because the Bulls players jumped in time, the Bucks role players were forced to have no time to adjust and had to shoot as soon as possible, and the result was DuangDuang missed the shot.

This situation is not an isolated phenomenon, but occurs throughout the entire series.

After the Bulls seized the lifeline of the Bucks' inadequate role players, they won two away games and one home game in a row.

Only in Game 4 did the Bulls think they could win a big victory and easily sweep the Bucks, but they were too relaxed, which allowed the Bucks to pull back a win.

But it didn't take much time. Game 5 was held at Fiserv Plaza again. The Bulls, who were serious again, quickly taught the Bucks a lesson on what it means to have a restrained style of play and what it means to be a historically strong team!

In the end, Antetokounmpo was outnumbered and played out a tragic game like Lu Bu fighting three heroes. He lost the Eastern Conference Finals with a record of 1 to 4, not lower than the Bulls.

“We beat the defending champions, which shows that we have the strength to win the championship!

Compared with previous years, there are so many strong teams in the East this year!

Perhaps, there are three teams that have the possibility of winning the championship.

I believe that the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks can also win the championship as long as they can beat us and get out of the East."

After the game, Duane was still trying to save face for others, while also building momentum for the Bulls to win this priceless championship.

On the way to the finals, they defeated two championship-level teams in a row. What level of championship is this?

After hearing what Duane said, the outside media also joined in the fun and published a number of articles, vividly describing and promoting this year's finals and the value of this year's championship to the fans.

When the league officials learned of such a big commotion, they also fanned the flames behind the scenes.

To increase the value of the Bulls' championship through publicity? No, this is to increase the ratings of the finals and prepare for the big betting waves.

It may be difficult for the Western Conference champions to upset the Bulls this year, but it is not impossible for them to win one or two games against the Bulls.

As the saying goes, the greater the expectations, the greater the expectations.

The Bulls defeated quasi-championship-level teams like the Celtics and Bucks with a gentleman's 4-1 sweep. Wouldn't it be even easier for them to defeat the next Western Conference champions?
As the outside world expects, the Bulls are very likely to complete a 4-0 sweep in the finals.

You know, it is extremely difficult to sweep the opponents in the playoffs.

In a season without playoffs, the first in the division could lose to the eighth in the division, and it would be normal for the underdog to win one or two games in a series.

The teams that can make it to the finals are basically the best teams in the East and West and are among the best in the entire league.

This means that the two teams are relatively close in strength, and it is difficult for a one-sided crushing situation to occur in a seven-game series.

Also because this situation is rare, fans who watch the game with a spectator mentality want to see it even more.

As for the Bulls fans at home and abroad, they also hope to see Durant and others stand on the podium at the United Center and hold the championship trophy again.

Because of the Bulls' poor record in the regular season, the finals schedule for the Bulls is still to play away first and then at home.

If the Bulls win four games in a row, they can win the championship at home! (End of this chapter)