Champion Rules

Chapter 69 065: A team can be without its starting shooting guard, but it cannot be without its leader (Please subscribe!)
Lynch changed Trevor Ariza in just one possession.

He has the ability to transform his teammates, which is the core code for his success in the New York Knicks.

"Guys, let's fight! Let's stop these bastards! We're second in the East, and they're only third! Stomp them to death!"

Lynch continued to clap and roar.

The disdainful expression on Ron Artest's face had disappeared, because he didn't expect that the fledgling in front of him, who was trembling a few minutes ago, now had the same arrogance burning in his eyes as Lynch.

That's why Grant Hill was so sure Lynch would eventually achieve greatness.

Although the data is already very impressive, it still cannot quantify the profound reshaping of the team by Lynch.

Lynch will always motivate you on defense and provide you with practical help defense support.

Whenever you are threatened by an opposing player, he always has your back.

Whenever a teammate is knocked down, he will always rush over to pull you up.

He always focuses on winning rather than statistics, and he will always cover for you like a blue-collar worker when you are in hot form.

It's all little things, but like baby steps, as they accumulate throughout the regular season, they ultimately build the backbone of the Knicks.

In this transforming team, every player can hear his own heartbeat amidst Lynch's defensive roar.

As long as you're not the type to despise winning, Lynch will be more than welcome to get on board.

An ordinary superstar would sink in New York because the Knicks' terrible locker room would erode him.

Lynch, in turn, reshaped the entire team, almost single-handedly changing the careers of Grant Hill and Stephen Marbury.

But that is not his goal. His goal is to completely change this city, even if Alan Houston is out for the season.

Trevor Ariza lowered his center of gravity, and his eyes made the irritable Ron Artest grit his teeth.

This rookie is not afraid of me, damn!

As a native of Queens, Artest doesn't want to embarrass himself in his hometown.

He waved his hand, calling for Jermaine O'Neal to set a screen.

But Trevor Ariza chose to bypass the defense from behind and continue to limit Artest's breakthrough.

Ron Artest does not have very good ball-handling and shooting ability, and his offense relies heavily on breakthroughs.

So Ariza just needs to stick to him and prevent him from rushing to the basket at full speed, and his offensive threat will plummet.

Artest wanted to pass the ball back to Jermaine O'Neal who was out after the pick-and-roll, but Kurt Thomas was still close in front of him.

Lynch was not matched up against Jermaine O'Neal or Ron Artest today. He was matched up against white forward Austin Croshere, a guy who was so mediocre in every aspect that he was forgettable.

A man who is too mediocre is destined to find it difficult to maintain the loyalty of his beautiful wife.

The mediocre Austin Croshere could not capture Lynch's heart. This player who posed little offensive threat allowed Lynch to "go off the rails" without worry and focus all his attention on assisting in defending those who posed a greater offensive threat.

So, when Ron Artest carried Ariza into the penalty area, Lynch's timely assistance in protecting the basket made him miss the layup again.

"Fuck! That's definitely a foul!" Ron Artest's unstable emotions began to flare up. He pounded his chest and yelled at the referee.

Trevor Ariza punched hard. He was a third-team forward last season, and that’s it?
Ariza looked down at the faintly visible tattoo on his chest through his jersey, and ran forward even harder.

"The Knicks' defense in these two rounds was great, but the Pacers' defense is also the most challenging part." As a witness to the golden age of the "Cornfield Army", ESPN's Mark Jackson is well aware of the foundation of this iron-blooded team.

Lynch can match up against the weakest person on the defensive end, but he is not so lucky on the offensive end.

The man who snatched the Defensive Player of the Year award from "King of the Dark Defensive Era" Ben Wallace last season enveloped the New York rising star with his body of steel.

This guy made Lynch feel the best defense since entering the NBA except for Duncan and KG.

As a violent defender, Ron Artest will confront you all the time.

His steel-like arms accurately blocked all passing angles, making it difficult for Lynch to catch the ball no matter where he was.

Sinking into the low post? That wasn't the best way to deal with him either. Peak Ron Artest's terrifying power was enough to rival Lynch.

In fact, any choice to hold the ball and fight Ron Artest is suicide.

His strong body will make it difficult for you to move, and his terrifying sense of stealing will make you lose the ball the moment your movements are deformed.

Artest's finger strength is very, very strong, and he can complete a fatal steal with just a touch of his fingertips.

That's why Ron Artest always causes family conflict.

For most people, using their fingers is just a warm-up, but when Ron Artest uses his fingers, it kills the fun.

The Pacers' defensive masters have taken the aesthetics of violence to the extreme: the sharp sound of floor friction when moving sideways, the muffled sound of muscle collision, and the anticipation of always blocking the breakthrough route half a beat in advance, forming a suffocating defensive symphony.

Grant Hill was carefully controlling the rhythm of the attack, and every friction between his fingertips and the leather attracted twenty thousand pairs of eyes.

He was slow to pass the ball to Lynch, which made Ron Artest grin.

"What? Caesar can't get the knife?"

Lynch ignored it and suddenly moved to the free throw line to set a screen.

Jamal Tinsley was caught off guard and crashed into the human wall. In a flash, Stephen Marbury was like a tempered blade, rushing to the top of the arc, receiving the pass from Grant Hill and shooting directly, hitting a three-pointer!
The offense surprised New York fans and made Rick Carlisle nervous.

Because this is not how the Knicks should play!

In the mountains of tactical video tapes from the past twenty games, Stephen Marbury has never played such an offense!

Mark Jackson didn't expect the Pacers' defense to be broken down this way. Did Lynch see Marbury's killing? Why is the Lone Wolf willing to make so many changes this season?
This is Stephen Marbury, who has always liked to attack with the ball in his hands!
Lynch gave Marbury a thumbs up. The shot after receiving the ball was clean and neat, proving that Marbury's hard work in off-ball offense was not in vain.

It is not easy to play well without the ball. It requires a deep understanding of tactics, tireless and smart running and a stable jump shot. Marbury spent a lot of time to adapt to these.

Although his off-ball movement is still immature and his grasp of the timing of counter-runs is still immature, his willingness to change has already overturned the outside world's inherent perception of lone wolves.

The biggest weakness of this powerful Pacers' defense is at the point guard position, so today, Marbury will take on the responsibility.

The Pacers soon scored, and O'Neal Jr. quickly responded with his signature turnaround jump shot in the low post.

Before Lynch could double-team, he had already ended the attack.

But it doesn't matter. As long as O'Neal Jr. and Artest don't fire at the same time, the fangs of this iron-blooded army will never be fully revealed.

Sure enough, one round later, the Pacers' fantasy of scoring consecutive points was shattered.

Jermaine O'Neal had just gotten the ball in the low post when Lynch had already double-teamed him.

Before, Lynch was a little afraid of Croshere's mid-range shot. But now, Lynch decided to be a little bolder.

He simply let the weak and incompetent man go and started flirting with other players in front of him.

Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest had a very bad personal relationship and they barely spoke to each other in the locker room throughout the season.

But when Reggie Miller is not around, the annoying Ron Artest is the one guy O'Neal has to trust on the court.

When faced with a double-team, Jermaine O'Neal's first reaction was to look for Artest.

Artest indeed appeared in his field of vision, and he had already run to the right side outside the 45° three-point line to receive the ball.

O'Neal passed the ball immediately, and Artest shot directly. Ariza, who lacked defensive experience, just couldn't keep up with Artest, giving the opponent space to shoot.

But his long arms made up for this mistake.

The basketball shot by Artest just passed Ariza's outstretched fingertips, spun and hit the front of the basket heavily.

"Bang!" The sound of the basket shaking triggered thunderous cheers in Madison Square Garden, and the sound burned Artest's eardrums.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Artest's eyes immediately became bloodshot. He couldn't believe that he hadn't scored for three consecutive rounds under the defense of a rookie.

Trevor Ariza heard someone cheering for him in the stands and roared with his fists clenched. He hadn't heard cheers in so many years.

Once upon a time, Trevor Ariza was also a genius, a five-star high school student, ranked 18th in the United States.

But the battle with St. Vincent and St. Mary's High School completely ruined him.

In that game, Ariza met the Chosen One who was famous all over the United States.

Everyone is looking forward to this matchup, expecting Ariza to become famous with the help of James. He is the California champion, he is the core of the championship team, and he deserves to be the focus.

Then James scored 52 points - Ariza's entire team only scored 52 points in total.

This was the beginning of Ariza's mediocrity, and he has not been in the spotlight since then.

He joined UCLA, but was only a role player, which caused his draft stock to drop instead of rise.

He was still selected due to his good static talent, but it was only in the second round, which was far from his original expectations.

He no longer has the youthful vigor he had in the past. He has become cowardly, afraid of super geniuses, and afraid that he will be destroyed by LeBron like he was in the past.

He was unknown, he hadn't been in the spotlight for a long time, and he thought that this was his life: stay in the NBA for a year or two, and then go to Europe to try his luck with some unknown team.

That's why he was shaking with nervousness before the game.

He felt that the starting opportunity did not belong to him at all. He hoped that Lenny Wilkens would change his mind and let old Penny start, so that he could continue to curl up on the bench without losing face.

It wasn't until Lin Yunlong and Hill Gang gave him confidence, and it wasn't until he defended Ron Artest in the first round.

He finally lost everything he once had.

He looked at the tattoo on his chest again, then ran forward even harder.

He wants to win, he must win, and win as an NBA starter.

While running, Ariza looked at the idiot who threatened to score 30 points on his head.

He looks so fierce.

But Lynch is here, damn it!
"Ron, don't fucking catch the ball, it's a waste of opportunity!"

"Shut up, rookie! The game's still a long way from over!"

"Yeah, you'll be able to strike iron a lot more times." "Fuck!"

"Fvck you too!"

Marbury's mid-range jump shot made Artest even more angry because the score gap was widened again.

After the first quarter, the Knicks, who lost Alan Houston, led the Pacers by 7 points.

The Eastern Conference king who won 61 games last season is now being suppressed by the Knicks.

Lynch had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, and his statistics were not particularly explosive.

Ron Artest didn't understand. He had clearly defended Lynch, and he had clearly restricted that bastard to move without the ball like a woman, but why did the damn score difference keep widening like a curse?

He certainly couldn't understand the dangerous transformation that Madison Square Garden was witnessing: when lone wolves were willing to give up the ball, when broken geniuses used defense to rebuild their edge, every bone in New York's spine creaked in Lynch's roar.

In the ESPN commentary booth, Mark Jackson let out a long sigh.

"People think that the loss of Alan Houston will cause the Knicks to collapse. No, the New York Knicks will never collapse unless Lynch is gone. Those who think the Knicks will collapse can start to be disappointed. I wish the Pacers good luck and hope that the Pacers will welcome back their own leader Reggie as soon as possible. A team can be without a starting shooting guard, but it cannot be without its leader."

In the second quarter, when Lynch wiped the sweat on the bench, Jamal Crawford's juggling dribbling came to nothing in front of Indiana's iron defense, and the transition section led by him was completely silenced.

Artest finally broke through Ariza's defense and completed two bloody breakthroughs.

These allowed the Pacers to recover some points.

With the score difference down to just 3 points, Lenny Wilkens put in his core again, knowing his ace was ready.

Lynch's figure entering the court with arms open instantly transformed this basketball temple into the eye of the storm.

The thunderous cheers from Madison Square Garden greatly satisfied Lynch's vanity.

The new king of New York closed his eyes and raised his head, letting the torrent of cheers wash over his ears - when the pulse of the entire city rises and falls with your breathing, when the fangs of your old enemy break before your iron wall, when your teammates and coaches trust you, this feeling of conquest of being lifted to the clouds is far better than filling any data column.

Ron Artest, who had just tasted the sweetness, continued to use his shoulder to open up a bloody path. Trevor Ariza's chest was covered with purple and red marks, but he still stood in front of the beast like a steel bar that would never bend.

Because the days of decadence in the past taught him that cowardice and depression could not bring back anything.

Ariza gritted his teeth. The deeper this bastard pushed, the easier it would be for him to fall into our trap!

Artest rolled into the paint, pushed Ariza aside and shot the ball up for a layup. The ball passed over Lynch, who was coming to help defend. Artest angled his shot to avoid being blocked, but the ball bounced off the backboard and bounced off the rim.

"Yes!" Ariza shouted with his fist pumped after successfully defending.

Why did he gain confidence? Because Lynch never let his efforts go to waste.

Now that Lynch is back,
Keep fucking sucking!

"Ron, can't you find the basket? Even Grandma Shaq could have made that shot!"

Ariza roared at Artest wantonly, venting the humiliation he had suppressed for so long.

When playing against LBJ in high school, that guy's terrifying body always crushed Ariza, making Ariza feel deeply powerless.

But now, facing Artest who also broke through the invincibility, he no longer had that feeling.

He covered his chest and smiled. Above the old wound that was traumatized by James, the brand new Knicks logo was shining brightly under the sweat.

With his unflinching leader standing behind him, he has nothing to fear.

In the second quarter, Artest still had no chance, and his embarrassment almost made Trevor Ariza famous.

Yes, this guy's offense is terrible, and his fundamentals are too bad to be an NBA player. Lenny Wilkens yelled at Ariza more than once when he had the ball: "No! No! Don't shoot! Don't dribble! Pass it, quickly!"

Yes, he was still a little skinny, and every confrontation with Artest felt like the final chapter of his life.

But his passion for defense never fades, his ability to penetrate Artest's defense never fades, and his excellent size and agility are enough to become a nightmare for most wings.

Without Alan Houston, the Knicks' offense naturally declined significantly.

But people found that their defense seemed to be stronger.

In the second half, the Pacers kept close to the score, but just couldn't overtake.

Jermaine Onis is not the kind of person who can kill the game with explosive scoring. When Artest fails to score, his offensive firepower alone is too weak.

Stephen Jackson also found it difficult to make a difference under Grant Hill's experienced defense.

The Knicks' suffocating defense is writing a new iron-blooded aesthetic, as if they have put a rope around the Pacers, who won 61 games last season. As the timer ticks down, the rope tightens.

In the fourth quarter, Lynch, who had been restrained on the offensive end, finally showed his edge.

He conserves his energy so that he can take over the offense at the final moment.

Ron Artest is a nearly perfect perimeter defender. His only shortcoming is his poor off-ball pursuit, a problem he has often talked about but cannot solve.

His overly strong physique meant that he could never become a top defender.

And the huge consumption before also affected his pursuit and defense speed.

So, Lynch bypassed the screens of Kurt Thomas and Grant Hill, and repeatedly received Stephen Marbury's tacit passes and made jump shots in the defensive vacuum.

The basketball repeatedly broke through the dome of Madison Square Garden, shattering the Pacers' remaining hope of a comeback.

Lynch, who only scored 12 points in the first three quarters, scored 11 points in a row in the final moments, which completely ended the battle tonight.

In the end, the New York Knicks won 102-93 at home.

Jermaine O'Neal was the statistical king tonight, with 35 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. He was everywhere.

But Lynch, who had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks, went home with the victory.

As for Ron Artest, who threatened to score 30 points, he ended up with only 13 points and smashed a camera worth $13 in the player tunnel.

Following the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks also won nine consecutive games - tying the longest winning streak in the Eastern Conference this season!
In the stands, Isaiah Thomas felt dizzy amid the cheers of the fans.

Nine consecutive wins, a number he had never thought of before.

Lynch's winning streak makes his position increasingly dangerous.

Because he knew that more victories meant greater prestige, and greater prestige would give Lynch greater power.

James Dolan is a guy who only cares about results. He will listen to whoever can give him the results he wants.

The assassin recalled the note on draft night. It was the right decision and also the wrong decision.

Back in the locker room, Lenny Wilkens' hoarse voice was particularly clear amid the cheers: "Tonight's victory belongs to everyone who played hard on defense - especially our little bulldog who made his first start!"

He raised Ariza's hand.

His teammates cheered for the young man who scored 4 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal by pounding on the locker. The sound of the metal locker door shaking off the beads of sweat on Ariza's forehead.

Ariza took off his jersey and smiled shyly amid the applause of his teammates.

Lynch lazily leaned back in his chair and pointed at the portrait tattoo on Ariza's chest: "I've been wanting to ask for a long time, who is that?"

"My brother." Ariza looked down at the pattern he had seen countless times during the game.

"Very cute. Are you here? I'm about to change my shoes, so this pair is for him." Lynch said and started signing the shoes.

"He died when he was five years old from an accidental fall from a building," Ariza said, his fingertips unconsciously stroking his brother's forehead with a portrait tattoo, reminiscing about the touch of his head for the last time.

"Oh," Lynch's smile faded, and the superstar became unusually flustered. "Sorry, I should have understood the situation first."

Ariza shook his head: "It doesn't matter. In fact, he should be very happy tonight."

"Because his brother became an NBA starter?"

"No, this game means more to me."

Ariza stood up and punched Lynch on the shoulder: "I'm going to keep charging."

Stepping into the shower, Trevor Ariza let the hot water pour over his head.

It was an incredibly dreamlike night. He suddenly became a starter, he suddenly got a chance, and he helped the team win. He went from being an insignificant player to a star in the spotlight.

He closed his eyes, and all he could see were the details of tonight's game.

Ron Artest's roar, Lynch's ever-present defense, the fans' cheers, the joy of victory
Suddenly, the scene shifts to California.

On the street court in the twilight, Taji Ariza stumbled around holding an old basketball, and his childish declaration mixed with the salty wind from the Pacific Ocean filled his ears - my brother is better than Michael Jordan!
This little guy, who couldn't even dribble, idolized his older brother because he was the best basketball player in the community.

"Of course, I will become an NBA superstar, I will be a hero, and I will be your role model!"

"I heard from my mom that it was difficult."

"Yes, but I will never be defeated Taji! We will never be defeated!"

Drops of water rolled down the spine, beating out a lonely rhythm on the tiles.

Trevor Ariza wiped his face, and he could no longer tell whether the water droplets on his face were tears.

"We will never be defeated!"

He punched the shower tile.

He has not been defeated yet.

The Knicks, without Allan Houston, haven't been defeated yet.

He won't let this team get beaten!
I think the Knicks have developed the best two-guard option internally. Well, if you ignore the fact that Trevor's fundamentals are worse than mine. —Stephen A. Smith on his radio show.

Ron Artest should be held responsible for the loss. Honestly, I think Pacers fans are fed up with this idiot who keeps losing control of his emotions. — Charles Barkley angrily criticized Artest for his mindless drives after getting carried away.

"It's normal that we couldn't beat Carmelo this time because he has better teammates and we still need to grow." — David McMenamin, commenting on the Cavaliers' loss tonight. He also said it was normal that they couldn't beat Lynch in their last loss to the Knicks.

New York is on the right track. Allan Houston's injury did have some impact on the team, but it wasn't a devastating blow. We hope Isiah can return to a competent two-guard position, but even if he can't, Lynch, as a leader, won't let this team fall. The goal of this Knicks team is no longer the playoffs. In fact, I'm already wondering who Lynch's first sacrifice will be in the playoffs. —Mark Jackson, commenting on the Knicks' current situation.

If I could, I'd love to be the first person to beat Lynch in the playoffs. Yeah, I want to see him cry like he did during the draft. —Shaquille O'Neal on the Knicks' nine-game winning streak.

(Today's 10,000-word update is here, begging for monthly tickets!)
(End of this chapter)