"Larry, why did you choose to be your head coach?"

"I thought about finding a top coach to lead us last summer. I analyzed what kind of coach I needed. After the assignment, I found that I could do it myself, so I tried it and found that it was really OK."

"..." Barkley was silent for a while and continued to ask: "How do you think the Lakers' adjustments are like?"

"Their adjustments are great. If I go to the Silver Fox position, I may not be able to do that well. Aix has made too fast progress. I don't know if you noticed that after the All-Star Weekend, his back plays better. Although there are only a little more changes, he played against Wallace when he opened the Blazers two days ago, and he performed better than when they opened the Blazers twice before. This year, Aix scored not as much as last year, but his strength has changed qualitatively."

This is my next question!

Although it is difficult to see the changes in Zhang Hao's back beat by conventional eyes, over time, those with sharp eyes still discovered the progress of Zhang Hao's back beat by over.

What makes people feel incredible is that this change lasted just one week. When the Lakers played the Bulls in the last game before the All-Star Weekend, Zhang Hao had almost no back-playing connection, but after the All-Star Weekend, it could be smoothly made.

Every time T-Sports Station is going to interview Zhang Hao, they always remember, and the old commentators are unwilling to go, and the same is true when interviewing Larry Bird.

Barkley chose to accept the pre-match interview with Larry Bird, and now he really wants to fight with this guy again!

It is said that interviewing Larry Bird is relatively better, and interviewing his former teammate is even more painful...

Finally, Barkley found a question and asked: "Why did you let Mark Jackson go in the summer of '96?"

"Charles, do you want to fight?"

"Come on! If you don't dare to do it, you are a little bird!"

“…”

Finally, Barkley won a game back.

On February 25, the Lakers' home game day is here.

This game is extremely attention-grabbing. The Lakers have been the first in the league since the beginning, and naturally they have always been the first in the West. Although the Pacers' record is not as wild as the Lakers, they still occupy the first in the East. This is even more incredible than the Lakers' historical record of 70 wins that the Lakers are rushing to the Bulls!

In fact, in the 1995-96 season, the Pacers had already shown their potential for championships.

At that time, Reggie Miller and Rick Schmitz were in their year of playing. The two Davis had a strong forward line and the substitute lineup was also strong. However, in the summer of 1996, Larry Bird got his brain and let Mark Jackson go. Later, he had to trade him back, losing players and draft picks in vain, and slapped them in the face quickly and fiercely.

This year, Larry Bird, the top coach, left the Pacers, and Larry Bird, the general manager, took part in person. Not many people were optimistic before the start of the season.

Superstar coaching generally collapses, and this has been demonstrated by Larry Bird's life-enemies, Magic Johnson.

Not every team is competing for the championship at its peak in its history, nor does it mean that every star is competing for the championship at its peak in his career.

On the contrary, many teams may not have had real experience in winning the championship, and many superstars may not have been close to the championship in their careers.

Before the start of this season, many people thought that the Pacers and Reggie Miller reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 1994 and 1995.

This is the norm in the NBA.

But the Pacers have dominated the number one position in the East since the beginning of the season, which is really beyond the expectations of all media and experts.

Maybe the team in the Eastern Conference Finals this year will be the Pacers!

The Lakers attach great importance to this game, including Zhang Hao, and are not sure whether the Pacers can reach the finals. The performance is really good.

Last summer, Larry Bird did not get any more brains, did not continue to renew his contract with Larry Brown, nor did he move the core lineup. He also introduced Chris Mullin from the Warriors. From the start of the season to the present, his strength is stable and strong. Even if the three-point line is extended, it has almost no impact on the Pacers.

Such an opponent has been taken seriously by other championship-level teams, and the Lakers are the same.

...

At 6:10 pm, the players of the two teams entered the stadium of the Great Western Forum Arena.

"Reggie Miller, 32 years old, 198 cm, 95 kg, ability evaluation 88, offense 93, defense 65, three-pointers 94, mid-range shot 96, layup 86, pass 78, speed 89, strength 79... Average 19.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1 steal 0.1 block... shooting percentage 47.7%, three-point shooting percentage 43.4%, free throw shooting percentage 91.5%... The real shooting percentage 62.5%..."

After entering the stadium, Zhang Hao first looked at Reggie Miller's player detection report.

It's simply! It's not an exaggeration to brag!

No one is higher than Reggie Miller, with a true shooting percentage of 61.5% in the field of half of attendance and averaging 20 minutes per game.

Mr. Zhang’s real shooting percentage so far this season is 60.5%, Duncan is 57.3%, Malone is 60.3%, and O’Neal is 58.7%, which are not as good as a defender.

Among the guards, Jordan's real shooting percentage of 56.7% this season is already very high.

No one of the outside players who averaged 15+ points per game hits higher than Reggie Miller.

What can be found are players like Stockton and Nash who average 11 or 2 points per game, who can play with lightning strikes - Millerby's real shooting percentage.

This did not surprise Zhang Hao. He had an impression that 20 or 30 years later, Reggie Miller has always been the kind of star that niche fans and superstar black fans like to praise the most.

Praise Jordan, Kobe, James, vulgar and easy to be snatched.

If you praise Curry and Harden, you will be said to not understand the ball and you will be refuted. They will all take advantage of the rules.

Iverson, McGrady, Carter...none of them has won the championship.

Tout Durant... There are really not many people.

But it is always right to praise Reggie Miller, and you always have a strong sense of superiority.

During the All-Star weekends in previous years, there were contract renewals and frequent transactions. This year was very quiet, with no big deals and few small deals. In terms of contract renewal, superstars were not prepared to renew their contracts in advance, and young stars had to give up because of the Lions' big talk.

Reggie Miller is different. He can break out of the contract this summer, but he doesn't. Other stars will have to pay a salary increase. He doesn't. He renewed his contract for 44 million US dollars in four years.

All the excellent qualities of a basketball player can basically be found in Reggie Miller.

Zhang Hao didn't have much feeling at first, but after coming to this time and space, playing in the NBA for more than two years and personally participating in the basketball world, he truly understood what an excellent player Reggie Miller is.

For example, Reggie Miller doesn't like anyone, and has a bad relationship with almost every opponent of his contemporary era. There are famous scenes when fighting with most contemporary opponents.

For example, in the suffocation celebration at Madison Square Garden, Zhang Hao has decided to find a way to imitate it next time he goes to Madison Square Garden.

Unfortunately, this matter has to be waited until next season, and the two matches this season have been completed.

Before the game, the two teams gave cordial and friendly greetings, and the gunpowder smelled quite strong. The referee was really afraid that the two teams would start before the game started.

There are quite a lot of grudges between the two teams.

More than two years ago, Zhang Hao had the first time in his career to fight the Pacers. The winning streak that was celebrated in advance was already one of the famous scenes in NBA history, and Reggie Miller became the background.

The two Davis and Zhang Hao also had a conflict.

Soon, the game began.

The Lakers sent Kenny Anderson, Brent Barry, Doug Christie, Zhang Hao and O'Neal.

The Pacers sent Mark Jackson, Chris Mullin, Reggie Miller, Dell Davis and Rick Schmitz.

O'Neal narrowly defeated Dell Davis in the jump ball, Zhang Hao crushed Reggie Miller, who was blocking defense, and bypassed Dell Davis and entered the basket.

After receiving O'Neal's second pass, Zhang Hao jumped on the spot and smashed the ball into the basket with one hand.

"Dunk Master (Silver)" triggers!

Reggie Miller, who was chasing up, stepped aside, looked at Zhang Hao who was retreating, and watched O'Neal rush back excitedly to celebrate with Kenny Anderson, quite helpless.

The Pacers' defense is not bad, not only is it not bad, but also excellent. They averaged 97 points per game, and their average points per game decreased further after entering January. The average points per game had fallen below 90 points. The sixth lowest in the league, only the Spurs, Cavaliers, Bulls, Heats, and Hawks limited their opponents' scores better than them, and they did better than the Knicks.

But they have never had any way to start the fast break in the Lakers, and they are not good at defending the Lakers start the fast break in the start.

Larry Bird held his chest with his hands on the sidelines, looking serious.

He and his team members knew that the tough battle mode was to be started at the beginning.

Sure enough, after halftime, Mark Jackson encountered Kenny Anderson's active defense at halftime.

Mark Jackson's assist-turnover ratio exceeded 4-1, averaging 8.8 assists and 2.1 turnovers per game. He was very interesting in protecting the ball. After being posted by Kenny Anderson, he did not change directions or other ways to get rid of Kenny Anderson, but instead pushed Kenny Anderson sideways and came out of the three-point line with his butt, almost unblocked.

Whether it looks good or not is completely unimportant in Mark Jackson's mind, and it is ensured that it will not make mistakes.

Counting 5 seconds ago, Mark Jackson had already reached the right side of the top arc, turned around to face Kenny Anderson, and broke out and shot!

Reggie Miller went to the middle distance on the right side of the three-second zone through the running position, received a pass from Mark Jackson, and turned around and made a mid-range shot...

O'Neal's save was already fast, but it was still a beat slower.

Faced with O'Neal's scary pounce, Reggie Miller did not hesitate at all while confirming that he could successfully take action. He took action very steadily and made an effort!

This ball stabilized the Pacers players' mentality.

There are many old players in the Pacers who have been on the team in the past two years. When they played against the Lakers twice last season, they couldn't defend their fast attack at the start, and then they were quickly defeated by the Lakers' violent attack at the start.

Although Pacers players have regained confidence due to their good record so far this season, the Lakers have a better record and the Pacers are still very unconfident. Zhang Hao completed the fast break dunk at the start, which has a great impact on the Pacers. Reggie Miller steadily shot the ball in the first attack of the Pacers, which has well consolidated the Pacers' confidence.

As the Pacers expected, Kenny Anderson and O'Neal decisively started the offensive mode after Zhang Hao completed the start of the fast break, hoping to take advantage of Zhang Hao's restraint to achieve a climax while his morale was rising at the beginning.

The Pacers' overall defense is very strong, but at the center position, Rick Schmitz is too soft and he has good defensive enthusiasm. He is 224 cm tall and should be a very excellent frame protector, but the 113 kg weight is really too light, tall and thin, while the 224 cm tall is destined to have poor movement ability, so defending O'Neal is a disaster.

However, Dell Davis is doing a good job in defending O'Neal.

In the first half of the first quarter, when Dell Davis replaced O'Neal, Zhang Hao made a back shot from the middle distance from the baseline, and hit Rick Schmitz three times in a row and directly hit Rick Schmitz into the left sideline on the three-second zone. He turned around and went into the basket and easily dropped the basket and scored two points.

He didn't even bully people with speed, but directly crushed and forced Dell Davis to return to the power forward position in the easiest way.

In fact, after Larry Bird improved Larry Brown's inside defensive strategy, Dell Davis and Rick Schmitz's defense were quite commendable. The Pacers' overall high-speed switch and wing-repair defense were also done well, and they lost less than 90 points per game. Their defense was definitely the top level in the league.

But unfortunately, when encountering an inside combination like O'Neal and Zhang Hao, the Pacers' two inside players were exposed very clearly.

Fortunately, Reggie Miller led the teammates and made excellent offensive performances.

Dell Davis also led his teammates to keep pace on the defensive end.

In the first half of the first quarter, the Lakers led by 3 points 14-11. In the second half, when Jaylen Ross and Antonio Davis came on the court, the Pacers continued to have a 15-13 wave. After the first quarter, the Lakers led the Pacers by 1 point 27-26.
To be continued...