Chapter 295: Iverson, the free labor force of the future
After eight full days of rest, the Bulls waited until their opponents succeeded in breaking through in the second round. The 76ers defeated the Hornets 4-2 with difficulty. The score was very different. In fact, the 76ers were almost overturned in every game.
It's just that the Hornets were very unlucky.
Just based on the way the 76ers advanced, everyone knew there was no suspense in the second round.
The Lakers in the Eastern Conference didn't eliminate the Timberwolves until Game 7. Although they defeated the Timberwolves, the fans were not surprised at all, because the Lakers were the defending champions last year. Even though their record in the regular season was not good, in the playoffs, they were really good.
When it comes to real guns, the Timberwolves are still too soft.
Facing O'Neal, you can't be tough even if you are tough!
Kobe's performance was not very good, at least not as good as last season. He relied entirely on O'Neal, who had returned from injury, to defeat his opponents. If Kobe continues this state, it will be difficult for them to win the championship this year.
Even if the Lakers advance to the second round, he is still not favored by many teams, because last year's Lakers did not have to go to seven games to beat the Timberwolves, and the gap between the Bulls and the Bulls was too big. Everyone thinks that the defending champion will be very good this time.
It's hard to defend the title.
On May 7, the Bulls faced the 76ers at home.
After the players came on the field, Lu Yu took the initiative to greet Iverson. When they met last year, Lu Yu said that Iverson was no longer his target, but he still had to show due respect.
After all, he is now the boss of the Bulls, so he cannot lose in terms of magnanimity.
"Allen, I remember you said you wanted to give me your phone number last time. I might hold a training camp this summer. If I have a chance, I can invite you to come and have fun."
Allen was stunned for a moment, secretly happy in his heart. You must know that Lu Yu's current influence is higher than his own. Recently, he can clearly feel that the alliance no longer favors him, so he is a person who wants to join Lu Yu's ship.
Good choice.
He quickly gave his phone number.
Lu Yu wrote down the number in a small book and told him to call him when the training camp started, and then left his phone number with Iverson.
"We may not hold back on this game. You know, we need to advance as soon as possible to preserve our strength and prepare to deal with those guys in the West."
Lu Yu's words did not arouse Iverson's resentment. Everyone knew that the Bulls' goal must be the finals, and the 76ers would never be the Bulls' opponents.
Iverson shrugged his shoulders: "We will also try our best to see how big the gap is. Be careful of being upset by us."
Two years ago, Iverson never gave in when he met the Lakers. However, facing the Bulls where Lu Yu was playing, he unconsciously lost his confidence, mainly because he was highly praised by the league two years ago.
The league doesn't seem to be planning to spend any time on him now.
He knows that the league does this for a reason.
In the post-Jordan era, the league did not have any good front-end players. When the OK combination swept the league, there was an urgent need for a player to step up and act as a hero.
And Iverson became that hero at the right time.
Unfortunately, Iverson is definitely not the face of the league in the eyes of league commissioner David Stern.
In the eyes of David Stern, basketball players should become elegant gentlemen, not a promiscuous person like Iverson.
When Iverson entered the NBA, he seemed out of tune with others. Others had an image of him as an elite on Wall Street, wearing a suit and collar.
But Iverson wears loose, flared pants and has a strong rap style.
But it was Iverson who led the trend of hip-hop dressing in the NBA. Kobe and other stars have changed into loose bell-bottom pants and retro baseball shirts.
Although the NBA made a lot of money from Iverson, David Stern and NBA executives still looked down upon this arrogant kid.
When Iverson recorded a black record in 2000 and dominated newspapers, executives were completely restless.
Stern said Iverson was a disgrace to the entire NBA and he would smash our sign.
But Iverson did not give in. He used regular season MVP and led the 76ers to the finals to prove how strong he was.
David Stern didn't want Iverson to be this hero, so he directly proposed the zone defense rule the next year. It seemed that the legal use of zone defense limited the inside giant like O'Neal, but his three-point shooting rate was only 27%.
For Iverson, it was a disaster.
Since then, Iverson has fallen from the altar.
This is why Iverson was full of confidence when facing the Lakers two years ago, but had to give in when facing the Bulls today.
Moreover, Iverson knew better that Lu Yu was the facade that David Stern was interested in.
Because Lu Yu’s nickname is “Gentleman”!
If we say Lu Yu's only weakness, it might be Lu Yu's skin color. In this league that is not very friendly to yellow people, the probability of Lu Yu being the face is directly proportional to David Stern's desire for the Chinese market.
As long as the Chinese market is big enough, David Stern can ignore Lu Yu's skin color.
Lu Yu knew that Iverson's fate could not be changed. When the league rules were changed, Iverson was destined to perish, because Iverson was not a player like O'Neal. Even if the rules were changed, his dominance would still not be affected.
After the game started, Iverson finally knew that what Lu Yu said that the Bulls would not hold back was true. The 76ers were known for their defense, but they still couldn't withstand the Bulls' indiscriminate bombing.
The 208cm-tall Keith Van Horn, a player once known as the "Larry Bird II", could not guard against Lu Yu. Lu Yu held the ball and rushed him without any discussion, passed through the crotch of others, changed direction and accelerated,
Van Horn was quickly shaken off, and when he tried to catch up, Lu Yu had already scored easily.
Van Horn has the same shooting ability as Bird, is calm-minded, and both are white. Everyone thinks that it is only a matter of time before he becomes the "second Bird."
Ultra-high expectations made Van Horn the "second pick" behind Tim Duncan in the 1997 draft. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers and later traded to the Nets.
In Lu Yu's previous life, in the 2001-02 season, Van Horn followed Jason Kidd to the Finals. Van Horn, who was originally expected to be a strong point, had no defensive status when facing Rick Fox, and he made hits throughout the Finals.
The rate is less than 40%, and the scoring average is just over double digits.
After this campaign, Van Horn was awarded the title of Soft-legged Crab in the playoffs and was sold by the Nets.
From then on, he embarked on a wandering road and never showed up as Bird's successor again.
Van Horn didn't meet the Lakers last year because the Nets he was on at the time were eliminated by the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And Van Horn's touted offensive ability was directly locked up by Artest. It was no different from Lu Yu's previous life, and he was directly sold to the 76ers.
He is a very good shooter with long range and multiple angles.
However, due to his awkward position and soft style of play, his actual effect is not as great as expected. He is a typical player who has gorgeous statistics, but cannot be of great help to the team.
Although his rebounding ability is acceptable, his defensive style is really disappointing. He does not have enough flexibility and speed to play as a small forward. With his speed, power forward is the only position he can play.
But the 76ers' power forward is Derrick Coleman.
The No. 1 pick in 1990 was once regarded as a striker, and his skills were definitely in line with his status as the No. 1 pick. But when he first entered the NBA, many experts believed that one of the major factors that hindered him from becoming a superstar was his fiery temper. But in fact
What hindered him from becoming a superstar was a series of injuries. Ankle, wrist sprains, thigh strains, finger tears and other injuries.
Even so, Coleman is still not replaceable by Van Horn.
So he could only play the small forward position, and then he was bullied by Lu Yu to the point of crying.
76ers head coach Larry Brown has always looked down on Van Horn, but he really has no one available, so he can only keep giving Van Horn chicken soup.
"Keith, you can do it. Your defense can definitely guard against the No. 10 on the other side. As long as your steps are faster, your body is stronger, and your strikes are more ruthless."
Van Horn rolled his eyes at this.
If he could be faster on his feet, tougher on his body, and more ruthless with his strikes, he wouldn't be abandoned by the Nets.
The 208cm Van Horn was knocked down once and knocked over three times while defending. The scene was very ugly. He committed three fouls very quickly, and Brown had to replace him first.
He looked at the substitutes sitting on the sidelines, and each substitute unconsciously avoided his gaze.
Brown's eyes fell on Monty Williams.
He then said to Williams: "Monty, it's up to you to defend Lu Yu."
Monty Williams was definitely not as famous as Lu Yu when he was playing as the head coach of the Suns in his previous life, not to mention that now he plans to retire after finishing this season.
I didn't expect to be entrusted with such an important task at this time.
Monty Williams wanted to say: Are you asking me to go up at this time to use me as cannon fodder? With Lu Yu's speed and my glass knees, is this a player I can guard?
Fortunately, Lu Yu felt that the game had reached this level. After all, Iverson had to be used as free labor for the training camp in the summer. It was not appropriate to play too ugly, so he chose to let it go.
After two quarters, the Bulls led 57 to 38 by 19 points. If Lu Yu hadn't been waterproof in the second half, the point difference would have been 30 points. The 76ers had no intention of resisting and just waited for the third quarter to be over.
He raised the white flag and surrendered.
It would be too embarrassing to surrender after two quarters, but surrendering after three quarters is okay.
CCTV broadcast the game, and both commentators couldn't stand it anymore.
Chinese fans are looking forward to the showdown between Lu Yu and Iverson. They thought Iverson could perform like that against the Lakers in the finals and have the spirit of not admitting defeat. But in the end, he refused to admit defeat? He looked very convinced!
After three quarters, when the 76ers fell behind by 25 points, Brown put on a full substitute lineup, and the Bulls also put on a number of substitutes, but substitutes and substitutes are different. When Artest violently dunked, Zhang Weiping sighed.
Tone: "The Bulls' substitutes can form a main force in other teams. I really don't understand how these players were ranked last in the league a few years ago. Now they look pretty good."
This issue puzzled many fans. In the end, everyone attributed it to the arrival of Lu Yu, which changed the attributes of the team and injected confidence into the team to win.
"If this series continues like this, Larry Brown is probably not far away from leaving the 76ers this summer." Zhang Weiping said with a smile.
Iverson and Larry Brown have been rumored to be at odds for a long time.
This is the most deadly enemy between master and disciple in recent years.
When the conflict between them escalated to its peak, it even became the focus of national attention.
In fact, Iverson and Larry Brown are both people with very strong personalities. Brown always designs a set of molds by himself, and then pushes the players into this mold to cut edges and add materials.
But this kind of coaching style that cuts one's feet to fit the shoes doesn't work with Iverson. He will never change his playing style for anyone.
But the most serious difference between the two lies in their completely different attitudes towards training. At one point, AI was even almost traded.
It should be said that Iverson is the most shocking warrior in the league, but his old habit of not paying attention to training made Larry Brown deeply disgusted.
But the most terrible thing is that Brown also poured out this dissatisfaction to the media, which especially made Iverson angry. He even cursed Larry Bronda 22 times in an interview.
But many things are only valuable when they are lost. In this internal conflict between master and apprentice, Iverson seemed to be the winner, and Larry Brown went to the Pistons.
There used to be a crazy CEO, Cross, who intervened, but when Cross resigned, everything was irreversible.
In the final score of 112 to 79, the Bulls slaughtered the 76ers at home.
The Bulls' main players didn't play again after half the third quarter, and the substitute lineup they sent was enough to give the 76ers a drink.
Artest complained that he was sent on the court during garbage time. He likes confrontation. If he was asked to brush up data during garbage time, he would rather not play. But the problem is that the 76ers really do not have the strength to resist!
After Lu Yu played this game, it was certain that the Bulls would enter the Eastern Conference Finals. He played 26 minutes in this game and scored a double-double with 28 points and 10 assists.
Iverson also played only 26 minutes, but only scored 17 points and 3 assists.
In Lu Yu's previous life, Iverson was the all-powerful scoring champion, but when Lu Yu could defend without pressure, he had enough energy to help Richardson or Hamilton defend. This made Iverson's
Scoring becomes extremely difficult.
The young Boozer almost crushed the aging Derrick Coleman throughout the game.
Boozer originally wanted to hit Coleman in the low post, but Lu Yu persuaded him to pull out and shoot. Boozer was not suitable for shooting in the low post. Shooting behind the head was Boozer's biggest weapon, and Coleman couldn't cover it at all.
Many power forwards in the league can't block Boozer's shot.
Even Duncan of the Spurs and Garnett of the Timberwolves had a headache when they met Boozer, not to mention Nowitzki of the Mavericks. You must know that the three of them are the three strongest power forwards in the Western Conference.
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After the game, a reporter asked Lu Yu to comment on Iverson, who was completely restricted in this game.
Lu Yu: "????"
Aren’t you making me offend my future free labor?
Memorize 114 Chinese words in 1 second: This chapter has been completed!
