Champion Rules

Chapter 100, Page 096: I should have joined the Knicks! (Seeking monthly votes!)
ESPN columnist Bill Simmons' favorite thing to do this season is to document Lynch and the New York Knicks' championship run.

He focused his observations this season on Lynch and the New York Knicks' championship narrative.

Although Carmelo Anthony has already demonstrated the ultimate destructive power of youth storm with two championships for the Detroit Pistons, Simmons believes that Anthony's championships are far less legendary than Lynch's.

You have to admit, Carmelo Anthony is playing for a mature team that has built a championship roster early on.

If any malicious Detroit media outlets want to question Anthony's status within the team, he only needs to say one simple thing: "We were already in the Eastern Conference Finals before you came."

Carmelo Anthony is certainly great; you can't deny he's one of the best players from the 03 draft class.

But you must also admit that he caught a ride on the road to the top.

Lynch's case is completely different, making him a unique case in the history of professional sports.

When he arrived in Knicks, the team was one of the worst in the league.

In a team sport that emphasizes physicality, if a team hates physical rebounding, dislikes help defense and rotations, has virtually no fast break scoring, is incredibly inefficient under the basket, has an incompetent team leader, and has a chaotic and incompetent management, then even if their total salary is the highest in the league, they are still a bad team.

The New York Knicks when Lynch joined the team were such a team, which was like a hellish challenge for a rookie.

But look at the New York Knicks now. They are disciplined, focused on defense, have a quick-reacting management team, and everyone is united. They value victory more than anything else.

The team's culture has changed fundamentally.

Typically, only two types of people in the NBA can reshape team culture.

They are either highly respected veteran coaches or prestigious superstars.

But Lynch doesn't belong to any of those categories; he's just a rookie, and a rookie from outside the North American basketball scene at that.

A rookie has just entered the NBA. Logically speaking, even he himself hasn't figured out what he wants, let alone leading a team.

When he first arrived in the NBA, many media outlets even worried that this super talent would get lost in the glitz and glamour of New York.

But Lynch unexpectedly reshaped the entire Knicks, turning a lousy team that was vying for the number one draft pick into the Eastern Conference Finals last season, and this season they are already making a run for the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

This has never happened before in the entire history of the NBA.

Therefore, Lynch's success is fundamentally different from Carmelo Anthony's.

Lynch is not only a rising star, but also a natural leader.

Individual ability and leadership are different. A player with only individual ability may be very good, but a player who also has leadership can achieve greatness.

A typical example of a player who only has individual ability but lacks leadership is Kevin Durant many years later.

No one can question the power of his one-on-one skills, but most teams built around him tend to fall apart, even teams like the Suns who traded all their draft picks to 2031 in an effort to build a championship roster, yet still failed to make the playoffs.

As a young star who possessed both skill and leadership, Lynch's career was destined to be extraordinary, making it legendary from the very beginning.

The story of a young hero leading a New York City from ruins to rise again is definitely a favorite among many.

Bill Simmons was no exception; he was eager to know just how far this second-year rookie could lead the team.

More than witnessing the Pistons build a dynasty, Bill Simmons believes this is the most meaningful thing about the season.

At this very moment, the young King of New York is doing what Bill Simmons loves to do most—destroy his opponents.

The big screen was still replaying Lynch's stunning dunk over Raja Bell. Most of the time, it's the inside players who get dunked on. They possess strong physiques and incredible weight, but even then, the scene can be quite gruesome when facing a guard or small forward.

But what if a tall player dunks over a lighter and shorter guard?
That would be something like Raja Bell, it's practically a horrific car crash scene.

"This isn't basketball," Mike Breen said, making the sign of the cross in the commentary booth. "It's a heavyweight boxing champion beating up a featherweight."

Raja Bell staggered to his feet, the excruciating pain in his back still lingering, his knees feeling like lead. This tough defensive player, known for his toughness, experienced a physical shiver for the first time on the court.

The game had only just begun, but he felt as if his entire body had been smashed to pieces.

Steve Nash keenly noticed the change in Raja Bell's eyes; the infamous bad boy on the court now only had torment and fear in his eyes.

Nash yelled at him, "Stand up straight! Think about how we fought our way out of the Arizona desert!"

Raja Bell just stiffly shook his head up and down; heaven knows if he even listened.

The game continued, and Nash assisted James Jones to hit a three-pointer, helping the Suns stay close.

James Jones is a pure shooter. As a player whose three-point shooting percentage is consistently higher than his overall field goal percentage, his only way of scoring on the court is almost entirely through three-pointers.

For role players like these to survive in the NBA, their strengths must be exceptionally strong.

James Jones was excellent in both movement and shooting. Eddie Jones was very focused on defense, but still lost his target during the continuous screens.

One possession later, in the same position, with the same defender, and despite Eddie Jones practically blocking his nose, James Jones once again blasted the basket.

Eddie Jones had his face blocked by James Jones, but he still managed to put the ball in.

The Suns took the lead thanks to two three-pointers from James Jones. Eddie Jones felt incredibly guilty and ripped his shorts hard.

If this were in Miami, he would probably be enduring the shark's insults right now.

But Lynch just clapped his hands: "Good defense, Eddie. He just made the shot. Stay focused."

Bill Simmons saw it all; sometimes, the secret to rebuilding the New York Knicks lies in these small details.

Eddie Jones indeed rallied, and when James Jones made his third consecutive off-ball movement to circle to the three-point line, Nash's pass was interrupted by Eddie Jones' timely action to cut off the passing lane.

He went all out on defense, displaying the defensive intensity of a Game 7 showdown in the first quarter.

Nash had no choice but to pass the ball to Raja Bell, but Raja Bell hesitated. Instead of shooting decisively, he nervously glanced at the paint, worried that Lynch might suddenly jump out from some angle and knock him away.

That slight hesitation allowed Michael Pietrus to catch up and successfully block all of his shooting space.

With the Suns' two most threatening perimeter players shut down, Nash saw this and went back for the ball, preparing for a one-on-one attack.

He drove to mid-range and scored a pull-up jumper over Stephon Marbury's defense, keeping the Suns in the lead.

Lenny Wilkens remains unfazed. The Phoenix Suns' seven-second offense is terrifying because this system allows everyone on the court to score high points.

If you want to improve your scoring average, go to the Phoenix Suns. That Canadian guard will break the dunk into pieces and feed it to you.

But what if Steve Nash has to shoulder the scoring burden himself? That means the sun is not far from setting.

No matter how strong Nash's individual offense is, he can't single-handedly generate the league's best offensive firepower.

Lenny Wilkens would rather see Nash forced into isolation plays than have him orchestrate the entire team's offense.

After grabbing the rebound and passing the ball to Marbury, Lynch continued to torment Raja Bell's nerves: "What's wrong, you piece of trash? You don't even dare to shoot an open shot? Phoenix must regret hiring you, this discounted item." Although Lynch didn't directly match up against Raja Bell, the mental torture he inflicted on him made the outspoken Suns guard feel the ultimate pressure.

The game continued, and Lynch received the ball in the low post. He quickly faked a shoulder movement and then decisively turned and jumped to shoot, sinking the ball right under Boris Diaw's fingertips.

The Knicks scored too easily, without even needing any complicated passing.

Just as Raja Bell was about to run forward, he heard that damned voice again.

"What makes you so smug that you think I need you? Do I look like I need a discounted, defective product like you?"

The Suns guard's breathing suddenly quickened, and he was on the verge of a breakdown. He didn't know why that number 20 just wouldn't let him go.

Last season, Grant Hill won the NBA's "Sportsmanship Award," showcasing the positive side of competitive sports.

Tonight, Lynch undoubtedly exposed the ugliest side of competitive sports, the most dog-eat-dog world.

There was no mercy, no stopping.

As long as Lynch is in New York, the dome of basketball Mecca will only bear the iron law of the jungle.

As long as the match continues, Lynch will continue to abuse Raja Bell.

It could be physical violence, or it could be verbal violence. In any case, this guy who showed no respect for the Knicks before the game was destined to meet a tragic end here.

After the first quarter, Raja Bell had not scored a single point.

In the second quarter, he mustered his courage to regain his confidence, but his layup attempt was once again blocked out of bounds by Lynch.

Lynch's play in this possession was actually an overreaction; he completely left Marion open, attempting a block for the sake of blocking, which was very dangerous.

Fortunately, Raja Bell isn't a combo guard, otherwise this possession might have ended with Marion hitting a three-pointer.

Raja Bell still hadn't scored a single point, and when faced with Lynch's close-up roar, he simply tilted his head away.

The second quarter was no different from the first; no timeout whistle could interrupt this agonizing ordeal.

Like a beast that has smelled blood, Lynch leaped and blocked Raja Bell's shot as the latter attacked the basket.

He went on and on, hurling insults at Raja Bell in every losing round, shattering his pride.

Bell finally made a three-pointer late in the second quarter, but there was no joy on his face, because the Suns were already down by 8 points.

Eddie Jones's aggressive defense and Bell's poor performance completely extinguished the Suns' three-point shooting, while Lynch's towering rim protection repeatedly thwarted Phoenix's driving offense.

The negative impact of missing Amar'e Stoudemire, the battering ram, and Joe Johnson, the second ball-handler, was fully exposed at this moment.

The shortcomings of this run-and-gun team in high-level games have become glaringly obvious.

Steve Nash seemed like a lone wolf trapped in the desert. His surgical passes couldn't find a point of contact to tear through the defense, and no one could help him control the ball. In the end, he could only be forced to become a lone hero and stick to his life with mid-range jump shots.

Although this depleted Suns team can still scorch some mediocre teams, when they face off against a championship contender like the Knicks, whose offense and defense are both excellent, all the dazzling statistical bubbles burst under the spotlight of Madison Square Garden.

The game entered the final seconds of the second quarter, and the scarlet numbers on the timer jumped to 25 seconds.

Nash used an off-ball screen to shake off Cassell, received a high post pass from Diaw, and fired a three-pointer from the right side of the three-point line.

But the experienced Eddie Jones quickly made his rotation, blocking the shot in time, his fingertip brushing against the bottom of the spinning ball.

The basketball traced an eerie arc, falling limply like a carrier pigeon shot down by a hunting rifle.

But the offense wasn't over yet. Just as the basketball, rolling wildly on the ground, was about to go out of bounds, Nash picked it up. In a flash, the elegant point guard had already dribbled into the heart of the defense and launched a floater over Lynch's help defense.

However, the ball did not get past Lynch and once again flew like a meteor towards the sideline.

With little time left on the shot clock, Raja Bell unexpectedly caught the ball that had been rejected twice.

The buzzer of the 24-second timer about to reach zero was like a death knell, forcing Raja Bell to act hastily.

But Eddie Jones didn't even give him a chance to gamble. The guy who gave his all on the defensive end today stifled the Suns' scoring possibilities with his second consecutive block.

"The Knicks have delivered three consecutive blocks in this possession; their defense is impenetrable!" Mike Breen shook his head as the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the second quarter.

The Suns trailed by 13 points going into halftime.

You can't say the game is completely over. For an offensive team like the Suns, a run of three-pointers could turn the tide.

But that last round seemed like a harbinger of the sun's decline.

They couldn't hurt the Knicks at all.

Lynch looked at Raja Bell, whose last shot was blocked, and opened his arms.

"Don't be so dejected, I haven't said enough yet, let's continue in the second half!"

Raja Bell's lips were bloodless, and at that moment, a thought occurred to him:
"I should have joined the Knicks!"

In the second half, Nash's powerful individual scoring prevented the score from going up to 20, but it only kept the Suns barely alive.

Lynch continued his incessant rant against Raja Bell, never missing an opportunity to block his shot.

Ultimately, Steve Nash delivered a game with explosive individual statistics, scoring 41 points and dishing out 12 assists.

However, the Phoenix Suns lost by 15 points.

Lynch had 35 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 blocks, including 4 blocks on Raja Bell's head.

Raja Bell went 2-for-9 from the field, and by the end of the game, he was completely devoid of the arrogance he displayed when he first arrived in New York.

Seeing this outcome, fans across New York chanted in unison: "Discounted Lalamove! Discounted Lalamove! Discounted Lalamove!"

The King of New York's arms rose and fell like an orchestra conductor's, the humiliating roars of 20,000 people precisely following the rhythm of his fingertips, nailing Bell's last shred of dignity to the floor of the basketball temple.

“This isn’t a game,” Mike Breen sighed sympathetically from the sidelines. “It’s the New York Kings showing the entire league what the price of offending royalty is.”
-
I've always used Scottie Pippen as my benchmark, doing things on the court that aren't reflected in the statistics but are incredibly beneficial to the team. Because a team only has a chance to win when every player becomes less selfish. I've always done that, but in some areas, people don't see my value. — Eddie Jones on his defensive performance tonight.

What's with Eddie Jones' 2-for-6 shooting? After such an outstanding defensive performance, you're still focusing on his shooting percentage? Listen, Eddie sacrificed his offense, running tirelessly on defense to shut down the Suns' perimeter. Stop using stats to belittle his contribution; he's not the kind of player who plays for numbers and plus/minus. Our whole team appreciates his efforts. — Lynch after the game, commenting on Eddie Jones' poor shooting percentage tonight.

This is what he (Bell) deserved. — Lynch talks about how he completely destroyed Raja Bell tonight with trash talk, blocks, and dunks.

My stats don't matter, tonight belongs to Lynch. — Steve Nash refuses to talk about his 41 points and 12 rebounds.

I spent an entire dark night trying to atone for my mistakes. I shouldn't have angered Lynch, I shouldn't have escalated the transfer to a personal attack, and I misjudged the cost of provoking a tyrant. — Raja Bale unexpectedly became docile at the press conference.

Lynch proved with yet another game that he will be a legend. He can lead a team, he will not allow anyone to swagger on his home court, he is unassailable, he is simply a natural-born protagonist in a basketball drama. All I'm saying is to remind a certain guy from Motor City: be prepared, Raja Bell alone won't satisfy the young Caesar. —Bill Simmons, ESPN column.

(End of this chapter)