First in scoring

Chapter 523 521. Jordan's incredible 'stability'

It’s so accurate!

When Zhang Yang first came to the 80th line for training, he was deeply impressed by the white point guard John Paxson.

In fact, in terms of overall ability, John Paxson is not good enough to be a team's starting point guard, but in the seven playoff trips since Jordan returned from a broken leg, the Bulls have changed five starters, and the most suitable one for Jordan is indeed this incompetent white point guard, especially since the Zen Master became the head coach and started the triangle offense, John Paxson's starting point guard position has remained unchanged.

Not only is his defense tough, but his offense is also sluggish, with poor breakthroughs and average passing. His shooting percentage at the basket is only 5%. As a point guard, he only has about 3 assists per game, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is barely acceptable at 2:1. However, when he doesn't have the ball, he is always in a very suitable receiving position, and his mid-range open shot is incredibly accurate!
The point guard next to Jordan is just like the point guard next to Kobe. He doesn't have much else but a lot of open opportunities.

John Paxson has maintained a mid-range shooting percentage of around 50% in the regular season and over 45% in the playoffs.

Especially this year, John Paxson played a significant role in the Bulls' 53.1 wins, which was fourth in history, with a mid-range shooting percentage of 67% in the regular season; his mid-range shooting percentage in the first 6 games of the Eastern Conference Finals was 48.9%, and he scored a total of 6 points in 68 games!
It's a standard Zen Master style that doesn't require role players to be outstanding, as long as they meet the specialty requirements.

When the Knicks attacked, Zhang Yang and Ewing continued to play as a two-man team. Horace Grant pretended to double-team Ewing, lowered his defense, and together with Cartwright and Jordan, surrounded Ewing and Zhang Yang.

Oakley keenly sensed the opponent's intention and moved to the free throw line to divert Pippen's attention.

McDaniel took the opportunity to turn around, broke free from Pippen's close combat, cut into the inside, and Pippen quickly chased after him.

Zhang Yang received the pass from Ewing, took a step forward, and when the time was right, he sent a lob.

Pippen leaped forward, but McDaniel caught the ball first, turned to avoid Pippen, then turned back to avoid Horace Grant who was rushing towards the basket. He did not move his right foot at all, stepped his left foot toward the basket, jumped with both feet, and made a layup!
4 million for 800 years, great value! Bird spent the money saved from Oakley, Starks and others on the right things!
Last summer, when McDaniel left the Suns, the media commented on him - he went to a team with a slower pace and was able to recover to his pre-injury level of averaging 20+ points per game. He has the league's top-notch skills and rhythm and is still a top-notch scorer.

After joining the Knicks, McDaniel averaged 13 points and 6 rebounds in the regular season, which doesn't look very good, but his shooting percentage was 51.6%, and he successfully adapted to the catch-and-finish style of play. In the playoffs, facing the 2-4 position combination of Jordan, Pippen, and Horace Grant, when Zhang Yang and Ewing needed a receiving point, McDaniel scored a total of 6 points in the first 113 games, averaging 18.8 points per game and a shooting percentage of 49%, second only to Ewing and higher than Zhang Yang, becoming the 'third giant' of the Knicks!
The Knicks scored three goals in a row at the start and took the lead 3-6!

With John Paxson, Cartwright, Jordan + Pippen + Grant's pressure defense, the Bulls' invincible defense against other opponents was torn to pieces by Mark Jackson's distribution of the ball, Ewing's singles, and Zhang Yang's off-ball offense!
Tonight, the Knicks played like they did in the previous three home games of the Eastern Conference Finals. Every time they stepped onto the court in the holy land of basketball, they were in high spirits and played with focus and confidence.

Seeing the Knicks' performance at the start, the commentators are all saying that the Knicks have a very high chance of winning the championship again.

There is data to prove that, not counting tonight's game, the Knicks have played 96 games this season, including 46 home games in total, and only lost three games in the regular season, the strongest home performance in NBA history, and the Bulls were not among the opponents in those three losses.

But looking back, Pippen broke through and passed the ball directly to Horace Grant, who made a mid-range shot from the baseline!

After a few rounds of probing at the beginning, both the main attacking points and the scoring players of both teams were in very good condition.

Both sides have gotten used to this. After being guided by divine fortune tellers and mad scientists, the NBA is at the peak of "offensive basketball". Both teams responded in the same way: attack him!

In the following time, the two teams launched a fierce battle.

Jordan was so dazzling in the offensive and defensive game that it gave people the feeling that the Bulls = Jordan.

He is the one who attacks in singles, he is the first choice for off-ball movement, receiving the ball and shooting, and he is also the core of support.

Pippen played well in the Eastern Conference Finals, but judging from this Eastern Conference Finals alone, he really doesn't deserve the "superstar" status that Jordan evaluated in front of the media.

He averaged 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1 block per game, with a shooting percentage of 46.8%. If we only look at his scoring performance, he is not necessarily better than McDaniel. Of course, his ability to initiate offense and defense with the ball are not comparable to McDaniel, but he can be considered a half-superstar at most, and even his supporting performance is average, otherwise Jordan would not have been forced to get 32+ assists while averaging 8+ per game.

They are all super giant dual-cores. The Knicks' dual-core is a real dual-core, the Bulls' dual-core, Jordan plays 1.5 alone, and Pippen is at most half a superstar.

As for Zhang Yang, he was "hiding" behind Ewing at first and played a supporting role. After Ewing used his absolute advantage in one-on-one combat to open up the situation and the team's offense was stably carried out, he stepped to the "front stage" and faced Jordan head-on.

Ultimately, the role players' passing and shooting serve to create better offensive conditions for the stars.

By the seventh game, Jordan was already bloodthirsty; Zhang Yang was also extremely excited to face Jordan, who was at the peak of his first period.

When Jordan plays one-on-one, he focuses on his power. It is useless to stick to the mid-range. The double-team comes slowly, so he relies on his physical fitness to shoot against the melee. When the double-team comes quickly, he can pass the ball. Even if the passing route is cut off, he can still head to the basket. Even when facing the siege of the best defensive combination of Zhang Yang and Ewing, he can still throw the ball into the basket.

When Zhang Yang plays one-on-one, he cannot rely on his explosive power and jumping height to break free from the defense and maintain stable force when being blocked like Jordan. However, his playing style is agile and varied. He is almost the best in flexibility, technique, and basic skills. His speed is second only to Greg Anthony on the bench. He is also the best when looking at the field, and his shooting range is longer!
In the middle of the first quarter, Jordan made two consecutive singles, Pippen received the ball and made a layup, and then he received the ball in the inside and passed it to Cartwright. The Bulls scored 4-0 and overtook the score 18-16.

Looking back, Zhang Yang received the ball one step inside the right side of the arc, turned around and took a three-pointer against Jordan's block, and made a strong shot, overtaking the Bulls by 19 point with a score of 18 to 1 and entering the official timeout.

The TV commentators exclaimed in amazement after the official timeout.

The Knicks' regular season defense ranked ninth among the league's 27 teams and ranked in the top five among the 16 playoff teams, but they were like paper in front of the Bulls.
However, the Bulls' best defense in the league in both the regular season and the playoffs was useless in front of the Knicks!
The team offense of both teams was highly praised, but the performance of their star players caused heated debate.

Jordan withstood the pressure of facing the "strongest home team in history" at the stadium, and almost single-handedly broke through the opponent's defense and led the entire team's offense. He was regarded by many commentators as the "strongest active player."

But some people think that Zhang Yang is stronger, Zhang Yang's playing style is more difficult to defend against, and his technical characteristics are more like those of an "ordinary player". It is hard to even imitate Jordan's playing style, but you can try to learn Zhang Yang's playing style, even if you play dam ball, and maybe you can learn something.

Hubie Brown, the commentator of Columbia TV Network, also discovered something: "I don't know if anyone else has noticed that Saint Jack is very different from others. You can't see any pressure or tension on his face, only excitement. I think that's not just confidence. I feel like he's enjoying this game that will decide whether he can win three consecutive championships. It's crazy..."

After the official timeout, both teams entered the rotation phase.

The Zen Master's rotation style has always been conservative. So far in the Eastern Conference Finals, only 10 players have an appearance record, and only 7 of them have stable playing time. The player with the eighth most playing time only averages 8 minutes per game. His name is Craig Hodges. This player is quite famous in this era, not because of how strong he is, but because he has just replicated Bird's achievements, winning the three-point contest championship for three consecutive years. However, his three-point shooting is indeed accurate. In the first 9 games, he made 3 of 6 three-pointers...but all the points in the 20 games were these 9 three-pointers, averaging 6 points per game.

This time, the Zen Master replaced two players, replacing John Paxson with Hodges and Cartwright with Scott Williams. Jordan, Pippen and Horace Grant continued to play.

The purpose of this substitution is obvious. Hodges and John Paxson have similar offensive roles, both of them are looking for a position to wait for the ball and shoot, creating space;

Scott Williams was an undrafted player in the 90 draft. Before the Eastern Conference Finals, he was not the main substitute in the Bulls' interior. Will Perdue, a lottery pick in the 88 draft, was Cartwright's top substitute.

But after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Perdo was basically abandoned. As a standard center at 213 cm, he is good at protecting the rim in positional battles, but he cannot keep up with the speed of Anthony Mason Jr. when running. Scott Williams has rough basic skills and poor awareness, but his physical fitness is very good, so he was entrusted with important tasks by the Zen Master at this time.

Bird's rotation was much more radical. Only Zhang Yang was left. The other four players were all replaced. Greg Anthony, Starks, Gerald Wilkins, and Anthony Mason Jr. came on the court!
After the official timeout, the two teams started a counterattack. They counterattacked when there were opportunities, and forced speed to try to create offense-defense transitions when there were no opportunities.

Originally, this style of play was first used by the Bulls in the previous season. The Zen Master relied on Jordan and Pippen, the best forward and guard combination in the NBA.

However, in the 90-91 season, Pippen's strength was not even "half a superstar". The rotation lineup was acceptable in the regular season, but not in the playoffs. After a year of training, the Bulls' style of play was officially formed this season. Whether in the regular season or the first two rounds of the playoffs, Pippen retreated and Jordan responded, and they pushed the opponent hard during the rotation stage. But in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Zen Master's style of play failed to gain an advantage... Before the Bulls' style of play was officially formed, Bird predicted that this style of play would definitely succeed and made preparations in advance!
Just as Zhang Yang's "malicious speculation" said, Bird signed Greg Anthony and Anthony Mason Jr. just for Jordan.

In the second half of the first quarter, the Bulls rushed fiercely, but the Knicks rushed even harder!
The Bulls were still trying to defend, and except for Zhang Yang and Anthony Mason Jr. who tried to block the defense in fast breaks and actively engaged in one-on-one positional battles, everyone else on the Knicks rushed with all their might!
5分钟时间，尼克斯队轰出了16比12的比分，打到11分28秒的时候，尼克斯队以35比30取得5分领先优势！
However, in the last 32 seconds, Jordan made a mid-range jump shot after a breakthrough, and made two free throws after a steal and counterattack, causing a foul. He beat the Knicks 4-0 by himself... After the first quarter, the score was 35-34!

...

Enter the internode rest.

Zhang Yang and his teammates returned to the bench.

Starks looked annoyed: "It's all my fault. I failed to defend Jordan. Our 5-point advantage is gone. We wasted half a quarter of our efforts."

In the running and offensive phase, in order to reduce Zhang Yang's physical consumption, as in the previous games, it was Starks who defended Jordan. He did a good job in the early running and at least his defense was not bad, but in the last two defenses, he failed to stick to the opponent when he was forced to shoot alone and defend against the counterattack, resulting in Zhang Yang who was chasing back being fouled by Jordan who was fully charged.

The other players on the Knicks also felt a little annoyed, but like Starks, they were not annoyed because Jordan scored. Isn't that normal?
5 scoring titles! If it weren't for their master Jack entering his prime and ending Jordan's scoring title, no one could compete with Jordan for the scoring title, not even close!
What upset them was that the 5-point advantage they had worked so hard to create was reduced to 1 point, and they wasted half the second half of the quarter.

Vandeweghe handed the towel to Starks and consoled him, "It wasn't in vain. If we hadn't worked hard to expand our lead in the first half of the quarter, Jordan would have overtaken us in the last few seconds."

The teammates thought this made sense, put aside the slight annoyance, and seized the time to actively communicate.

Putting aside the special circumstances in the last 30 seconds, they really played well tonight. Even in the first quarter of the previous three home games, they didn't play so well. This was their best offensive performance in seven games.

张杨打得也无比兴奋，乔丹靠着最后连砍4分，9投5中加上4中3的罚球单节拿到13分，外加2板4助攻1抢断，他张三也不差，9投5中，其中三分球4中2，加上3中3的罚球，狂轰15分！
However, there is one thing: he hasn't been to the 80-point line for a long time and he is somewhat not used to it. He has taken more three-point shots than all the other players on the court combined.

To be precise, no one on their side took three-pointers except him; the opposing Bulls team only took two three-point shots. Hodges followed up with a three-pointer in a big gap, and the other three-pointer was taken by Jordan. After the fast break failed, Zhang Yang, who was switched to defense, was left one step open and shot one, but it missed.

But precisely because of this, he is not bound by the shooting habits of the current era. Once he finds that the offensive space is tending to be compressed by the Bulls, he immediately pulls out and throws the ball. With the Bulls' obvious explosive offensive firepower tonight, he helps his team create better offensive conditions.

The players were in high spirits, but Big Bird, as the head coach, was a little worried.

The team had a hit rate of over 6%, scoring 23 points with 14 of 35 shots, and the opponent actually caught up!
This is mainly because of Jordan. In a single quarter, he made 3 mid-range shots, 4 attacks on the rim, and 3 of free throws...Bird knows Jordan too well. This guy has a characteristic that is ridiculously strong but not many people discuss - stability.

This "stability" is different from the year-round stability of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Olajuwon. It is in one game...

Although he was worried, Big Bird did not appear to be abnormal on the surface. He calmly and orderly did his intersession work, gave the team members more than a minute to rest and communicate, and then called the team members together to make targeted adjustments.

The opponent's offensive state is something he cannot decide. At most, can he intensify the confrontation?
It's just that the Bulls mainly play an 8-man rotation, and the extra 9th man, Hodges, is only there to fill in when John Paxson needs a rest. He is a purely specialty player.

This rotation method has huge flaws. Just like the 86-87 season when he and Zhang Yang led the team to defend the title, it is highly dependent on the big core. Once the core performs poorly, the whole team is finished. However, the opponent's big core is Jordan, who is as good as one and a half superstars, so this is not a consideration.

Then this rotation method has only one advantage for the Bulls - the continuity is amazing!
What Big Bird should do is to seize the advantage.

Our current advantage is that our two superstars have good singles performance, accurate long-range shooting, and good interlaced movement. So we should seize these advantages and find ways to expand them!

...

After the intermission, the two teams continued their offensive battle!
The Zen Master's rotation is still conservative, focusing on not making mistakes. The combination of John Paxson, Jordan, Scott Williams and Cartwright are on the court, setting up the formation framework for the players and giving Jordan sufficient autonomy.

Bird had more tricks, with the combination of Greg Anthony, Zhang Yang, McDaniel, Anthony Mason Jr., and Ewing coming on the court to maximize the offense!

Bird's move caught the Bulls off guard, and he scored 3 points in the first three minutes of the second quarter!
In the absence of Mark Jackson, Zhang Yang took over the task of distributing the ball and performed extremely well. Together with Ewing, he organized the team cooperation in positional warfare in an orderly manner. The reason for his surge was that Greg Anthony used his speed, which was one of the best in the league, to launch a fast break, took advantage of Zhang Yang's threat, and continuously created opportunities for Anthony Mason Jr. to attack the basket.

However, this only broke the Bulls' defense. The Bulls' offense remained steady, scoring 3 points in 8 minutes, making 5 of 3 shots and 2 of 2 free throws, maintaining their efficient performance in the first quarter!

It was impossible for Zhang Yang to charge for half a quarter in the second half of the first quarter and then continue to charge in the second quarter and still be a threat. This wave of attack failed to really widen the gap. As the Knicks' momentum weakened and Zhang Yang's personal scoring performance returned to normal, the Bulls, who had recovered, had the advantage!

In the last 9 minutes of the second quarter, led by Jordan, the Bulls scored 24 to 21, and at the end of the half, the score was 66 to 70, narrowing the gap to 4 points.

After the halftime break, in the third quarter, the Bulls continued to soar, setting a new record after 34 points in the first quarter and 32 points in the second quarter, scoring 35 points in a single quarter!
单节35比28，三节打完，公牛队以101比98反超尼克斯队3分进入节间休息！
Neither Zhang Yang nor Big Bird sat still and waited for death. They tried their best to resist during this period. Zhang Yang tried his best in both offense and defense. He played for 33 minutes in three quarters. After 15 points in the first quarter, he scored 9 points in the second quarter and 10 points in the third quarter, scoring a total of 34 points in three quarters.

Bird is also actively adjusting, thinking about rotations, tactics and other aspects until his brain is spinning.

But Michael Jordan on the opposing team was so unreasonable. He single-handedly turned the situation in the half-court that had suppressed their side back!

Once again, the official timeout came. Big Bird watched Vincent checking the statistics at the technical desk. Sure enough, what he was worried about happened!

Jordan's "stability" is very special! Bird discovered it in the 86 series against Jordan with Zhang Yang.

This guy has a very high lower limit. Being able to defend him to only about 45% shooting percentage in a series is already a high level of defense. He rarely scores 20+ in a single quarter like the Assassin and Saint Jack, but it is impossible to further suppress his offensive performance.

And in a single game, it's amazing. If he gets eight or nine points in the first quarter, you will see that he gets eight or nine points in every quarter thereafter. And when he gets more than 10 points in the first quarter...it happened tonight!

继首节13分后、第二节又拿到了12分，第三节继续‘稳定’，单节14分！三节25投15中，加上10中9的罚球，狂轰39分！
During the first intermission, the whole team was in high spirits, and during the halftime break, the whole team was extremely excited. But this time, after losing by 7 points in a single quarter, Bird clearly felt the morale drop and the huge pressure hanging over the whole team.

A win tonight would essentially seal a three-peat, something no other team besides the Lakers and Celtics has ever accomplished.

But lost...

Not really! Seeing the excitement of the guy he had partnered with for many years, Big Bird also felt his confidence refilled!

On the opposite side is Jordan, and he has Holy Lord Jack!

(End of this chapter)