When the Lakers and Spurs met for the Western Conference Finals, the Knicks also set foot on Boston's soil, and they were ready for the Eastern Conference Finals.
At this time, Reggie Miller's evaluation of Lin Yu detonated the league. Everyone was surprised. They did not expect that Reggie Miller would have such a high evaluation of Lin Yu.
"Reggie Miller: Lin Yu is making ultra-long three-pointers the norm. This move will change the future development of the league!"
Related discussion threads on Reddit are divided into two completely different groups.
Those supporting Reggie Miller gave a more specific reason:
"Lin Yu's super long three-pointer was really shocking. It was like he just shot it casually and then it went in!"
"Such a long three-pointer is indeed a huge test for the opponent's defense. In the next game, when other teams face Lin Yu, they need to consider whether to expand their defense infinitely."
"But the problem is that the defensive expansion will make the entire team's defensive formation extremely loose."
"So in the final analysis, Lin Yu's ultra-long three-pointer will have a huge destructive power on the defensive trend of the league, and the league will have to make changes because of this. This may be the impact Reggie Miller emphasized.
"
The group that denies Reggie Miller is very scornful:
"One person changes a league. Did Reggie Miller take China Lin's money?"
"That's too harsh. Although Lin Yu is very strong, he is not strong enough to change an alliance."
"The ones who can change the future of the league are superstars like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. China's Lin has not yet reached this level. In fact, he is still a long way away."
What's more, some people think that Reggie Miller blew it too hastily:
"It was just two games of super long three-pointers. Reggie was too anxious. Maybe in the next round of playoffs, we will never see China Lin's super long three-pointers again, because he just happened by chance."
There is also speculation in the media circles as to whether Lin Yu hit some super long three-pointers by chance because he was in excellent form.
For example, ESPN's Henry Abbott said: "As early as the Celtics period, that is, the period when Lin was crazy, China's Lin had a super long three-point performance, and even had a three-pointer that spanned the entire court.
It was a decisive hit, and after a long time, he shot a super long three-pointer again, which seems to tell us from the side that he really just happened to be in great shape!"
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In the face of praise, Lin Yu did not feel complacent. He knew very well how his performance in the Eastern Conference semifinals came about. He was far better than James, but he was still not up to it.
Faced with doubts, Lin Yu became interested. He wondered if Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau thought the same way.
If so, the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals will be exciting.
In order to maintain an excellent touch, Lin Yu chose to continue to practice shooting after arriving in Boston. In the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, he will explode his touch and make the doubters cover their faces, admitting that Lin Yu does have it.
Ability makes ultra-long three-pointers the norm.
More importantly, if the Celtics are not specially prepared for this, the Knicks will have a chance in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Not a chance to win, but a chance to make the game suspenseful.
With the Eastern Conference Finals about to begin, media reporters began to appear like locusts, in large numbers and pervasive.
Facing the group of reporters, Lin Yu did not choose to avoid it. Instead, he faced the group of reporters very calmly and answered their questions very directly.
"Are we going to continue to be black? Of course, we will be black to the end."
The Knicks are considered a dark horse, and Lin Yu is happy to be considered a dark horse, because a dark horse's victory is always worthy of being trumpeted.
"The biggest threat to the Celtics? I think it's Raja Rondo."
When asked by reporters who was the biggest threat to the Celtics, Lin Yu mentioned Rondo's name like a joke, and then gave his reason: "If Laga is still the Celtics'
When the main point comes on, he is our best sixth man, but if he is abandoned by Doc, he will be our biggest threat."
The reporters in front of them were dumbfounded. They did not expect that Lin Yu would give such an answer.
This... seems to be a bit insulting to Rondo!
But what Lin Yu wants to say is that the Knicks' hope of winning does lie with Rondo. A point guard who has no long shots, sticks to the ball, and has poor free throws has many shortcomings. In the fierce competition of the playoffs,
, simply a living target.
The Knicks have too many points to take advantage of. They can put Rondo on the defensive end and let Rondo control the ball. Anyway, it is not the Knicks who suffer. Even at the last moment, they can also resort to cutting-off tactics...
…
However, in the eyes of many media reporters and expert football commentators, Lin Yu was insulting Rondo.
"A second-year point guard who averages 11.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game is even qualified to compete for the Most Improved Player and the All-Defensive Team this season. No matter how bad he is, he will not be as good as Lin.
Become your opponent’s undercover agent as you said.”
"I have to say that Lin's pre-game argument was too clever, pointing directly at his opponent's inexperienced second-year point guard. If Laga is really affected by this, the Knicks will take advantage of it."
On the other side, Laga Rondo responded angrily to Lin Yu: "I really don't want to say anything more about Lin. I have a very bad impression of him. He has slandered me many times. I am used to his bad words."
It’s your choice.”
"I won't respond to anything. I will use my performance to defeat them with the Celtics. This is my response!"
Lin Yu didn't want to anger Rondo, he just thought that an honest person like Rondo was interesting. His remarks were more like a joke and a warning.
If Rondo cannot change his technical characteristics, his career will ultimately be a failure.
But now, Rondo has been angered, and Lin Yu is happy. He also feels that his pre-game debate was successful. A self-righteous Rondo is about to appear and take control of the Celtics' ball.
For the Knicks, it will definitely be good news.
Lionel Hollins thinks so too: "Obviously, Raja Rondo will be a point that we can take advantage of, Kyle, your defense needs to make some changes, and, Marty (Collins)
, be ready to play."
Marty Collins may need to appear, because at critical moments, the Knicks may resort to cutting tactics. They need more point guards to share the pressure caused by too many fouls.
On the eve of the game, the Knicks were very quiet. Except for Lin Yu, everyone else refused to be interviewed by the media because Lionel Hollins told them that they were still young and needed to learn.
Lin Yu is not the only one among them who does not need to learn. It is just players like Nazr Mohammed who also do not need to learn. They really do not receive much attention from media reporters and cannot find a platform if they want to speak out.
On the other hand, the Celtics were star-studded and extremely noisy before the game.
In addition to Rondo, Kevin Garnett commented on Lin Yu in the first two rounds of the playoffs: "He is indeed very strong and looks scary..."
Then the conversation changed: "But we are stronger than him. The Eastern Conference Finals will be a one-sided series. The final score will be 4:0. We will sweep them!"