Champion Rules

Chapter 108, Section 104: He's at best a clumsy imitator of Lin Qi (Seeking monthly votes!)

On the night of the playoffs' opening game, amidst the smoke and heat of battle, under the spotlights of Madison Square Garden, Charles Barkley, who was present, held up the latest issue of Sports Illustrated and showed it to the American audience:

"When I opened the package, I almost thought I had subscribed to GQ or some other fashion magazine! Look at the layering of light and shadow and the tension of the composition. The best NBA team photo in history has been born—even Sam Cassell looks anthropomorphized in this picture!"

The Knicks players, who were watching the live broadcast on TV in the locker room, burst into laughter. It was also the first time Lynch had discovered that the word "anthropomorphism" could be used to describe a person's appearance.

Sam Cassel angrily spread his hands: "What anthropomorphism? Charles has no idea what the man behind the success is!"

In the joyful atmosphere, Lin Qi, having changed his clothes, clapped his hands, and the laughter gradually subsided as everyone waited for him to speak.

"Alright, get back on track. The party's over. We can't afford to lose tonight. The New York gangsters won't let us slip up in the first round!"

"Roar!" The whole team roared and followed Lin Qi out of the locker room.

In the first round, the Knicks will face the Indiana Pacers.

They are no longer the iron-willed heroes they were at the beginning of the century.

In retrospect, Reggie Miller's retirement was like removing the last supporting beam from the Pacers' locker room.

In the locker room, Artest and O'Neal were able to maintain a semblance of harmony.

With the departure of their spiritual leader this season, the relationship between the two completely broke down, and the management had no choice but to trade Artest to Sacramento mid-season.

Although Peja, who was brought back in the trade, is also an All-Star caliber forward, the foundation of the team, which relied on tough defense, has already collapsed.

This resulted in the Pacers, who dominated the Eastern Conference at the beginning of the century, barely making it into the playoffs this season as the seventh seed in the East.

The general consensus is that this is a series with little suspense.

The Pacers were no match for the Knicks in any respect, and even their strongest player, Jermaine O'Neal, couldn't gain any advantage against Lynch.

But Lynch didn't seem relaxed at all.

Lin Qi was arrogant, but he wasn't the kind of person who easily got carried away.

Just like you have to admit that three things are very developed in our daily lives: music and animation.

Lynch also had to admit that the Pacers were not the kind of team that would surrender easily; their tough genes had not completely disappeared.

Against a team like this, you have to be at your best. If you let your guard down, they won't hesitate to give you a good beating.

If he doesn't want the team to become too relaxed, Lynch needs to set an example by himself.

So in the very first game, Jermaine O'Neal was plunged into hell.

Under Lynch's fierce and focused defense, the Pacers' star player made only 3 of 12 shots, along with 6 turnovers and 5 fouls.

He was completely outmatched by Lynch.

Jermaine O'Neal was essentially a completely weaker version of Lynch. His highest career honor was making the All-NBA Second Team, while Lynch made two All-NBA First Teams in his rookie season.

The difference in their skill levels was starkly apparent in this match.

But Lynch is right, the Pacers are a tough team.

G2杰梅因.奥尼尔拿下37分15个篮板4次封盖，他多次强硬的强打篮下，由此获得了足足14次罚球，并罚中了其中的13球。

Jermaine O'Neal played like his life depended on it tonight. He's a true man, and after Artest left, he wanted to lead the Pacers to success more than anyone else.

The Pacers were once incredibly close to the championship, and Jermaine O'Neal really didn't want to close the window of opportunity for a title empty-handed.

However, the cold scoreboard shattered the heroic narrative. Jermaine O'Neal gave it his all, playing until his body ached, but still couldn't bring victory to the team.

Peja Stojakovic's 10 points rendered Jermaine O'Neal's efforts futile.

With a commanding 2-0 lead, the Knicks flew to Indianapolis.

Almost all Pacers fans were hoping for a spectacular comeback at home, but the New York mob showed no mercy.

In Game 3, Lynch recorded his first career playoff triple-double with 22 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists, which shattered the Pacers' last will to fight back.

In the fourth quarter, this New York tyrant delivered a series of brilliant one-handed passes amidst double teams, and his "gang members" lived up to expectations, responding one by one. The seamless connection left the Pacers fans in the stands frozen, watching helplessly as their prize money was brutally snatched away by the gang members.

After taking a 3-0 lead, Game 4 was no longer a possibility. Most of the Pacers' players were now just empty shells, having long lost their fighting spirit.

With a clean 4-0 victory, the Knicks advanced smoothly to the second round.

"The New York mob is efficient and clean!" commented TNT commentator Kevin Harlan.

As the series ended, under the dome of Conseco Arena where the smoke had cleared, Reggie Miller, another TNT commentator for the night, took off his headset and looked at a dejected Jermaine O'Neal.

Jermaine O'Neal was gazing at the Pacers' banners, and he knew that what was missing here was a truly significant championship banner.

Miller sighed softly. Jermaine O'Neal was a fighter, and tonight he was the only Pacers player still full of fighting spirit. Even at the end of the fourth quarter, he was still doing his best to defend Lynch.

But the New York gangsters are ruthless; they will not hesitate to kill anyone, no matter who you are, before they get what they want.

Starting with Reggie Miller, this seems to be the fate of Pacers players.

They always try to compete with those god-like talents with less talent, and then tragically sacrifice themselves on the road to competition.

This is also a kind of heroism, but unfortunately, history always ruthlessly covers up the stories of the losers.

But that's the nature of competitive sports. If you can't accept its cruelty, then leave as soon as possible.

Lynch walked to the center of the court and shook hands and hugged Jermaine O'Neal.

This is a tribute to his indomitable will.

After Jermaine O'Neal hugged Lynch, he walked off the court, and TNT reporters on the sidelines pointed their microphones at the winner.

"Lynch, would you prefer your next opponent to be the Washington Wizards or the Cleveland Cavaliers?"

"I do not care."

"So, what's your take on the possibility that LeBron's game-winning shot against the Wizards in the last game involved a traveling violation?"

This question made Lynch feel some sympathy for Arenas; he certainly never imagined he would be killed in this way.

LBJ's one-on-one in the final moments had no skill involved; it was purely based on his footwork.

"How you view it is the referee's problem; the Cavaliers won, and that can't be changed."

"If you encounter a knight, are you worried that you will encounter a similar situation?"

"Worried? I won't give him a chance to win the game."

At this point, the Knicks have gained some breathing room and can rest until the Cavaliers and Wizards decide the winner.

Reebok, meanwhile, is busy preparing hype material for a showdown between The Ruler and The King.

During this time, Lynch didn't just sit idly by. Whenever he had free time, he would work with General Manager Sam Presti to find a new head coach.

Initially, Sam Presti did not want Lynch to be deeply involved in the matter—not to prevent Lynch from getting involved in management affairs, but to avoid distracting him.

But Lynch cleared the way for himself with a 4-0 series, proving that his form wouldn't be affected by such a small matter.

To Lynch's surprise, Larry Brown sent another job application email. This old man, though stubborn, was very sensitive to the numbers in the contract. The godfather of Motor City? A godfather needs money to be a godfather; acting like a big shot when you're broke is just being a poor tyrant.

Larry Brown knew that a wealthy owner like James Dolan would be willing to pay a lot of money for a renowned coach like him.

Indeed, in the original story, after Isaiah Thomas recruited Larry Brown, James Dolan gave him a five-year, $50 million super coaching contract.

What's even more outrageous is that Isaiah Thomas fired Larry Brown after only one year as coach. As a result, in addition to his $1000 million annual salary, Larry Brown received an $1850 million severance package. In other words, he spent a year in New York and easily pocketed $2850 million – a sum that Kobe Bryant couldn't match in the 13-14 season.

Who wouldn't love an owner and a team like that?

Larry Brown would be as eager as a streetwalker who hasn't opened for business in a week to open up whenever he had the chance to get close to New York.

Rockets assistant coach Tom Thibodeau also applied. Lynch never doubted his ability, but he did doubt whether the Knicks players' toughness could match the intensity of the old Southern farm owners.

This is a strange man who puts almost all his passion into torturing players, to the point that he doesn't get married until he's 66.

In his own words, "If I were to become a basketball coach, there would be no room for women in my life."

Such a farmer is terrifying. He has no family, he doesn't sleep with women, he just watches you 24/7 and uses you until your bones fall apart.

Finally, Lynch's gaze fell on the job application email sent by former Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders.

He is one of the most consistent but also the most mediocre coaches.

He's a good person, a coach who's great at maintaining a minimum standard but can't seem to reach his maximum potential.

He has no flaws, and almost all the players who have worked with him speak highly of him.

But he lacked any distinctive features and never developed a unique tactical system. His strategies and tactical arrangements were always conventional, rarely featuring anything eye-catching or unconventional.

This is the fundamental reason why his lower limit is high but his upper limit is not high enough.

At a stage where the team needs to strive for the championship, his textbook coaching philosophy is insufficient to propel the team further.

The players adore this nice guy like children adore a gentle kindergarten teacher, but a championship-contending team needs a strategist, not a caregiver.

He's suited to lead a team that consistently misses the playoffs, but not to coach a championship team.

Currently, none of the three candidates appear to be the most perfect.

The tactical wisdom of a renowned coach is mixed with unacceptable stubbornness and selfishness; the iron-fisted training of a farmer is mixed with the risk of injury; the nice guy is like lukewarm water, without a trace of the flavor of championship champagne.

Lynch had certainly considered promoting Mike Malone directly, knowing full well what kind of achievements this guy would make in the future.

But just as you can't confuse rookie Kawhi Leonard with peak Kawhi Leonard.

Mike Malone is still too young to be a head coach, and making him a coach right away would cause all sorts of problems.

For example, he currently has almost no on-court coaching ability, which will cost the Knicks dearly as they progress deeper into the playoffs.

The selection of a new head coach has stalled, while the series between the Cavaliers and the Wizards has quickly progressed to Game 6.

Arenas got another harsh lesson from LBJ.

Game 6 of the series was a fierce battle between the two sides, and the game went into overtime.

With 15 seconds left and the Wizards still leading by one point, LBJ made a boastful statement: "I'm going to kill the game, Gilbert."

This infuriated Arenas, because Lynch had said something similar to him in the previous season's playoffs, causing him to miss two free throws and watch helplessly as Lynch killed the game. The memory burned through his nerves like sulfuric acid.

He hastily took a three-pointer in an attempt to end it all, but unfortunately the ball missed.

After missing his shot, Arenas focused all his efforts on defending James, determined not to let last season's tragedy repeat itself.

LBJ kept dribbling with a determined look in his eyes, as if he wanted to devour the general alive, but his attempts to break through the defense all ended in failure.

With only 4 seconds left in the game, James finally collected the ball, and Arenas jumped to block it. Incredibly, LBJ passed the ball to Larry Hughes, who cut inside, and Hughes sealed the victory with a difficult layup despite being surrounded.

Arenas: ? ? ?
This is the second time in this series that the General has been amazed by LeBron James' performance in crucial moments.

This game-winning shot gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a 4-2 series victory over the Wizards, propelling them into the Eastern Conference semifinals.

LeBron James's stats in the series were quite impressive, averaging 35.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game. If you ignore his 5.7 turnovers per game, it's an absolutely perfect performance. At least statistically speaking, he was perfect.

Despite facing such a perfect LeBron James, the General expressed his disdain for number 23 in the post-game press conference.

"Stop comparing him to Michael Jordan. That's the worst insult to MJ I've ever heard. LeBron James is just a poor imitator of Lynch. He tries to trash talk me in crucial moments like Lynch does, but then he doesn't dare do anything. At least Lynch had some guts last season; he dared to take the shot and kill the game himself after I missed a free throw."

Arenas's attitude is not hard to understand. Recalling the game-winning traveling violation in Game 3 and his failure to take responsibility in the crucial moments of Game 6, he can't respect LBJ.

“To be honest,” Arenas said with a wry smile, spreading his hands, “I feel like my win was stolen by the league. If that traveling violation in Game 3 had been called, we would have been up 2-1, and everything would have been different. But the league wanted LeBron to face Lynch; they thought it would be a money-making battle. Screw that, LeBron can only last five games against Lynch at most. How much money does that make for the league? If I were to face Lynch, we could at least have made the series longer.”

Undoubtedly, this outburst resulted in Arenas receiving a league fine the day after the series ended.

NBA Commissioner David Stern called the accusations "unreasonable, absurd, and baseless."

David McMenamin, a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, echoed this sentiment: "It's ridiculous! LeBron can only last five games? That's absurd!"

Whether this is absurd or not will soon be proven true.

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't get much breathing room, nor did they have time to celebrate the game-winning shot.

5月5日他们4比2击溃奇才后仅隔46小时，这群身披酒红色战袍的家伙便拖着疲惫之躯踏入了麦迪逊广场花园的聚光灯下。

Meanwhile, the New York mob had finished their rest and were all eager to try, like Sicilian assassins polishing their blades.

There is no such thing as absolute fairness in competitive sports, and for the Cavaliers, who are already struggling in the first round, this is the disadvantage they need to face.

Before the game started, Lynch did not speak to LBJ.

The All-Star incident has completely severed ties between Lynch and the 03 Twins.

Lynch doesn't care about the All-Star game, but he also won't befriend guys who deliberately don't give him the ball.

This is an "All-Star freeze" for their generation of players.

He, LBJ, and Melo—there's only killing between them.

In the first possession of the game, Lynch had the ball beyond the three-point line, but saw Mike Brown take an unconventional approach, using LBJ to guard him.

He believes that LBJ is not at a disadvantage in terms of strength and speed, making him the best matchup against Lynch.

Lynch waved his hand, signaling everyone to pull away.

He took two steps back to create space for a sprint, and then accelerated.

James saw Lynch charging towards him, immediately moved to the side, and prepared to cut the ball.

But Lynch suddenly gathered the ball and made a quick turn around with James as the axis—this was the second face-up dribbling move that Lynch developed after the Euro step, based on the "never traveling agile footwork" and Hakeem Olajuwon's teaching.

Like the Euro step, this also doesn't require exceptional ball control to achieve superior results.

After turning past James at the free-throw line, Lynch suddenly sprang up, ignoring the onrushing Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and slammed a one-handed dunk over him for the score!
After completing the dunk, Lynch deliberately tugged at the rim and then looked at Mike Brown on the sidelines.

“Gilbert’s words are absurd. With your arrangement, you guys have no chance of making it to the fifth game.”

(Sorry for the late update. The second update will also be a little late, but the amount of content will not be less.)
(End of this chapter)